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Face mask, black and white
Object Number 969-40-50/11318
Display Title Face mask, black and white
Descriptions
Object Description Carved wood mask with black and white zonally painted anthropomorphic face and grasscloth trim. The peanut-shaped mask is carved from a single block of wood, with a bulging forehead and large flaring nostrils. The mask is divided down the middle and painted black on the proper left side and white on the proper right side. The eyes and mouth are carved through. Woven plant fiber is attached via holes with a darker plant fiber that is possibly dyed. The top of the mask is covered by a woven, natural color plant fiber, embroidered with strands of the darker plant fiber. Another section of woven fiber is attached to the back of the mask to fit over the back of the wearer's head.
Inventory Description Carved wooden mask, human face, half black/white, woven fiber on top/ bottom.
Classification
  • Mask
Department Ethnographic
Date 1969 or earlier
Culture
  • Pende
  • Basonge
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
Africa / Congo
Additional Geographic Terms Democratic Republic of Congo, western
Materials Wood, Pigment, Fiber, Plant fiber
Dimensions Overall: 35.5 x 21.5 x 18 cm (14 x 8 7/16 x 7 1/16 in.)
Quantity 1
Label on object 969-40-50/11318
Provenance
Collector Mr. Eliot Elisofon (early 1950s - 1969)
Donor Mr. Eliot Elisofon (early 1950s - 1969)

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