Helmet mask "lipiko" for the "mapiko" dance

---

Description

wood, beamless reddish brown patina, accents in dar kbrown, the eye zone accentuated by raised zigzag-shaped scarifications, the nose extremely flat, the big diamond-shaped mouth with thick lips and jagged teeth, the area of the coiffure deepened and braided with real hair, collection number in white paint at the lower rim: “H.1893”, slightly dam., abrasion, rep. (breakage at the chin), socle;
“lipiko” masks appeared at initiation celebrations. They were worn by the young initiates “vaali” at the “mapiko” masquerade. They depict woman rather than men and were kept in special sacred mask houses outside the village.

---

Comparing literature

Fenzl, Kristian, Makonde, Linz 1997, p. 173 ff.

---

Publications

Phelps Steven, Art and Artifacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas: The James Hooper Collection, London 1976, pl. 244, ill. 1893

---