Mama Mangam Mask 1599 - For African Art Gallery
The Mama people of northern Nigeria in the Benue River Vallery create Mangam head crests like this which represent a bush cow with open extended mouth and sculpted horns that extend upwards in a continuous single line to be joined at their ends.
When worn it is carried on the top of the dancer's head who is surrounded with a ruff of grasses extending from the bottom of the mask that hides the dancer.
Mangam masks dance during funerals and during the yearly agricultural cycle celebrations.
Mama Mangam Mask 1598 - For African Art Gallery
The Mama people of northern Nigeria in the Benue River Vallery create Mangam head crests like this which represent a bush cow with open extended mouth and sculpted horns that extend upwards in a continuous single line to be joined at their ends.
When worn it is carried on the top of the dancer's head who is surrounded with a ruff of grasses extending from the bottom of the mask that hides the dancer.
Mangam masks dance during funerals and during the yearly agricultural cycle celebrations.
Fang Ngil Mask #1589 - For African Art Gallery
The Ngil masks of the Fang tribe represent a masquerading tradition that waned over sixty years ago. They are worm by members of male Ngil society during the initiation of new members and the persecution of wrong-doers. Masqueraders clad in raffia costumes and attended by helpers would materialize in the village after dark, illuminated by flickering torchlight.
They are characterized by elongated features and a heart-shaped face and were thought to have judiciary powers and so were worn when sentences were handed down by society.
Kwele Ekuk Mask #1594 - For African Art Gallery
Ekuk means both “protective forest spirit” and “children of beete.” It displays a flat surface and often has a whitened heart-shaped face, a triangular nose, coffee-bean eyes and small or non-existent mouth. This mask, with two large horns, represents the antelope. The faces are usually painted in white kaolin earth, a pigment associated by the Kwele with light and clarity, the two essential factors in the fight against evil.
Tonga Chigaro Stool #1582 - For African Art Gallery
These, now African art, Tonga stools were important status symbols used by the head of the household and known as Chigaro to the Tonga people.
