Organic Material Masks

The African Kuba Bwoom tribal mask is the oldest known mask, the Kuba bwoom mask. The materials used for the realization of the Mask are: Wood, colors and vibrates plants, caures, beads, animal hair. In dance it expresses exuberance and joy. The style is similar to that of the middle Kasai. This mask is a helmet with animal hair, carved with a very wide forehead and hollow cheeks that are announced by motifs or dashes and beads. The mouth of the mask is very pronounced carved in wood and then applied on the mask. To distinguish the forehead in different areas are used black and white beads to draw attention to other aspects of the face such as the nose and chin. The entire edge of the chin is surrounded by beads of various colors. The person wearing the mask cannot look because there are no holes for the eyes present; the mask must create the feeling of being blind. Some masks similar to the bwoom mask include the funny mask, the ram mask and initiation masks such as Nnup. The real Kuba masks...

The Beaded Royal Headdress is made of a palm tree fibre structure, enfolded with burlap cloth embroided with European glass beads that cover the entire object with geometric symbolic...

Early woven painted basketry yam mask from Papua New Guinea. Bug eyed or bird faced mask with heavy incrustation from many years of use, a striking mask that ...

Large woven painted basketry wall mask created in Blackwater Rivers area, Papua New Guinea. With open expressive mouth and mask fringed with feathers, striking mask that easily hang...

Yao Shaman's Mask Guizhou Province, China Early 20th Century Wood,horse hair, printed paper, nails Size: 13 1/2" x 8" (34 x 20 cm) On a custom made metal stand. Covered inside and o...

Woven painted basketry yam helmet style mask from Papua New Guinea. Hollow woven form with traces of red and white pigments. Would have been put on top of a large yam as a part of th...