Sawfish mask

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Description

wood, painted in black and withe, red on reverse side, plant fibre, sword of a sawfisch (Pristis pectinatus), min. dam., traces of insect caused damage, slight traces of abrasion, small missing parts (teeth);
the Bidyogo are a small ethnical group in Guinea Bissau, living on the Bissagos islands off the coast.
Younger boys wore calf or fish masks, the older non-initiated boys depictions of wild bulls, sharks, hippos or sawfishs. Their dances were as wild and untamed as their own nature.
The masks were fixed by green bast, the sword pointed forward - in contrast to bull masks - the face was not covered.

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Comparing literature

Roberts, Allen F., Animals in African Art, New York 1995, p. 125, ill. 37 Phillips, Tom (Hg.), Afrika, Die Kunst eines Kontinents, Berlin 1996, p. 477, ill. 5.142

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