Helmet mask with four faces "ngontang" ·  Gabon, Fang · ID: 3052279

Description

wood, pigments, base

“Ngnotang” literally means “the young white woman”. The mask always shows feminine features covered with white chalk. Among the Fang, white is the colour of ancestral spirits.

The mask type “ngontang” was first documented between 1920 and 1930. Performances may relate to a range of different occasions from a family’s commemoration of the life of a deceased member or its announcement of a birth to an important public gathering. In some Fang communities the mask appears to have been used in ritual dances related to the “bieri” ancestral cult, especially for detecting sorcerers.

The object Helmet mask with four faces “ngontang” with the object ID 3052279 was part of the auction Collectors’ Items Sale on September 24, 2025, lot number 243 at that time and is currently available for EUR 600 in Open sale.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.

Comparing literature

Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 67