Looking for some help ID'ing a mask again

Hi all, hoping that somebody can help me ID this mask. to me the features look African but it also bears some resemblance to Malaysian masks that I have seen. Thanks! Calum

 

I'm not familiar with it, and haven't seen this mask before, but it doesn't appear to resemble any African masks, unless those are supposed to be scarification marks on the cheeks and forehead. It reminds me more of some Central or South American masks, especially if that is a moustasche as well as a beard.

A little more information may help. Is the wood fairly lightweight, as opposed to heavy and dense? Does it appear to have been painted at one time? Are those holes around the top edge to attach some kind of fiber? They don't appear, from the photos, to go all the way through. Where was it purchased/acquired?

 

Based on the scarification pattern, I would look at Yoruba masks. The Yoruba orisha Esu/Eshu is often represented with a beard, but usually appears on a staff, not as a mask. The holes along the top edge suggest it may have been used, rather than simply made for sale. But it is an unusual form.




https://discoverafricanart.com/product/yoruba-inspired-decorative-mask-12-nigeria-african-art/

A Yoruba mask with somewhat similar eyebrow treatment:

https://www.africadirect.com/masks/yoruba/yoruba-mask-with-crown-nigeria-african-art.html

Esu staff figures:

 

Thanks a lot both. They certainly look like scarification marks which I think rules out a South East Asian origin. Here is the style of Malayisan mask that it reminds me off:

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mask-man-mah-meri-ethnic-group-1175913892

More the form and the lightness of the wood. The wood is very light, like balsa. It is also a very small mask and could only be worn by a child I think, Here is another photo next to a can of beer.



The holes at the top go all of the way through and it doesn't seem to have been painted.

It was purchased alongside this knife which looks North African to me:



Thanks a lot for the Yoruba links and pictures 2manybooks. The scarification looks very similar as do the beard and eyebrows which seem quite distinctive.

 

Thank you for the additional information and clarification, especially the additional photos. I agree, it does appear to depict a Yoruba image, and is therefore African.

What I was seeing as a moustache, was evidently a shadow in the original photo. The new photos clear that up. The placement and shape of what are now obviously scarification marks, are clearly Yoruba, not Asian or Central or South American!

 

Thanks Taupou. Super grateful to you both for helping me solve another mystery!