Angolan Decorative Objects

Early 20th Century African Antique Wood Comb with Human Head From the Chokwe Culture of Angola. A fine, old, much used comb with a glossy, glasslike patina...

Beautiful classic Chokwe mask genre that honours female founding ancestors. Such representations are particularly significant as the Chokwe trace the descent through the lines of their mothers. This is thought to be a dance mask with a net and wood hairstyle, from the Batshokwe people skilled in the art of carving and of very ancient origin belonging to the culture of the divine monarchy. The Batshokwe sculptors were the most famous in the region, masters in geometric decorations such as the depiction of scarifications and tooth deformations, the surfaces of their works were carefully smoothed and polished. On the forehead of the mask, the classic chinge-lyengelye scarification is clearly visible, commonly interpreted as a variant of the Portuguese cross...

This unusual Chokwe mask is probably Katoyo, representing non-Chokwe individuals. The deviation of the mask from the more common Chokwe masks is mainly because they represent Portugu...