Horned mask
Guinea, Toma
sold
EUR 900
Provenance
Property of a New Jersey Private CollectorSotheby’s Parke Bernet New York, 2. & 3. June 1981, lot 387
Harald & Ursula Suhr, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada / Germany
Size
H: 43 cm
H: 16.9 inch
Description
wood, dark brown patina, protruding forehead, surmounted by three short horns, decorated with resin-like mass inset with cowrie snails, min. dam., cracks, traces of abrasion;
only few figures of the Toma are known but there is a variety of masks which are used during the “poro” men’ s society ceremonies. They can be categorized into three main types, the male “landa”, the female “nyangbai”, and finally the “horned masks”.