Any info on this African wall mask

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by baileybae, Oct 2, 2022.

  1. baileybae

    baileybae Active Member

    Just interested to find any info on the wall mask. It is not antique, possibly vintage. It is 29" tall. The carving is very nice on it. TIA

    101_7266-PhotoRoom.png
     
  2. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    It is a tourist/export piece. Not traditional.
     
    Figtree3, Woutinc and 2manybooks like this.
  3. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    As Any Jewelry says, it is not a traditional form, which makes it difficult to attribute it to any particular place. My best guess is that it is from one of the workshops in Ghana.

    The faceless, abstracted figure on the top seems to be a pan tourist art phenomenon, occurring in Indonesian carvings, East African kisii stone carvings, and West African wood carvings such as this one from Ghana, for sale on Novica:
    [​IMG]
    https://www.novica.com/p/hand-carved-wood-sculpture-of-family-from/277694/

    The exaggerated, happy face of your mask seems to be following a tradition, all with the hooded eyes, the striped treatment of the eyebrows, and sometimes with shell/ivory insets. Most of the ones I have found do not have reliable attributions, although the most recent version (on Overstock) is said to be from Ghana:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/384435773351

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/224532535727

    https://www.overstock.com/Home-Gard...k-Ghana/25571685/product.html?option=42721394

    Many of the modern Ghanaian carvings are described as being made of "sese" wood, and show the same red color as the face of your mask.
    https://uniquelyglobal.net/products/africa-outlining-safari-animals-carved-from-native-sese-wood
    I have not been able to pin down a proper botanical identification of sese wood yet.

    Addendum - sese wood may be Holarrhena floribunda. "In 2019 Ghana exported....finished carved products and sculptures of H. floribunda species for €976,430.88."
    https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPS/article-full-text/AF54F5D68966
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2022
  4. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    I should add that it is almost always helpful to have more than one view of an object that you want identified. For masks, at least a profile view, and view of the back can be helpful in showing style and workmanship.
     
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