Anthropomorphic mask with horns · Cameroon, Fang · ID: 3052819
Starting price
EUR 6,000
Estimated price
EUR 12,000
Provenance
German Private CollectionSize
H: 62,5 cm
H: 24.6 inch
Description
wood, pyroengraved, plant fibre, old collection label “Tanzmaske aus Kamerun Original”
Horned masks of the Fang play an important role in the initiation rite known as “alu”. At the beginning of the ceremony, the horn-bearer, the “epo’a”, appears together with his acolytes, the “bisis”. They invoke the “shadows,” that is, the spirits of the dead, who are meant to unsettle and frighten the young initiates before the masked figures disappear again into the night.
Comparing literature
Templin, Brigitte, Einblicke in den Bestand der Völkerkundesammlung der Hansestadt Lübeck, Lübeck 2011, p. 60 f. Perrois, Louis, Visions of Africa, Fang, Milan 2006, p. 44 Tessmann, Günter, Die Pangwe, Bd. 2, Berlin 1913, p. 51-64