African Bobo ‘Burkina Faso’ Large Tribal Ram Helmet Mask with Curved Horns

This graphic Songye Kifwebe mask has fine carved lines curved over the eyes and diagonal lines radiating from the nose and mouth in classic Kifwebe form. ...

Early woven painted basketry yam mask from Papua New Guinea. Bug eyed or bird faced mask with heavy incrustation from many years of use, a striking mask that ...

A Helmet Mask known as Bwoon from the Kuba Tribe in the Kasai region of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa circa mid-20th century. The carved wood mask was decorated with copper plates on the face, and lavished embellished with trade beads, raffia cloth with cowrie shells and hanging seed pods, fur possibly from monkey. The surface and the interior both display good patina indicates a native use (contact rubbing) and age. Bwoom is one of three types of royal Kuba masks...

The African Kuba Bwoom tribal mask is the oldest known mask, the Kuba bwoom mask. The materials used for the realization of the Mask are: Wood, colors and vibrates plants, caures, beads, animal hair. In dance it expresses exuberance and joy. The style is similar to that of the middle Kasai. This mask is a helmet with animal hair, carved with a very wide forehead and hollow cheeks that are announced by motifs or dashes and beads. The mouth of the mask is very pronounced carved in wood and then applied on the mask. To distinguish the forehead in different areas are used black and white beads to draw attention to other aspects of the face such as the nose and chin. The entire edge of the chin is surrounded by beads of various colors. The person wearing the mask cannot look because there are no holes for the eyes present; the mask must create the feeling of being blind. Some masks similar to the bwoom mask include the funny mask, the ram mask and initiation masks such as Nnup. The real Kuba masks...