Beninese Masks

A visibly old mask from the Javanese masks theatre ‘wayang topeng’: carved from hard wood, and painted on the front side. The mask shows clear traces of ...

We offer this rare antique Mexican Demon mask in wood, circa 1970. The mask makes a sound when moved.

Carved grotesque wood mask with pierced eyes, very hooked nose, cigar between very crooked bone teeth. Label on verso reads, “Willi Huggler (Swiss, 1925...

We offer this rare and very antique Mexican Diablo mask in wood, circa 1940. Great patina.

A fantastic and somewhat grotesquely strange mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to t...

A fantastic and somewhat playful mask by the Yup'ik (Yupik) aboriginal, indigenous people of South-Western & South Central Alaska. The Yup'ik people, who are related to the Inuit peoples, have a long history of ceremonial mask making. Yup'ik masks were originally and specifically designed by Shamans and made to be worn by these spiritual leaders in Winter tribal dances and sacred ceremonies. Traditionally, the masks were destroyed or discarded after use in these ceremonies. Very few of these masks survived. After Christian contact in the late 19th century, masked dancing was suppressed and the tradition all but died out. As more outsiders settled in Alaska at the turn of the century, masks were made by the Yup'ik people to sell or trade for necessary goods. It is likely that this mask was created some years later for this purpose. In the 20th century, Yup'ik mask had a profound influence on many renowned surrealist artists including, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Leonora Carrington, Victor Brauner, and most notably Andre Breton who was an avid collector of Yup'ik masks. This fantastic anthropomorphic mask is carved of lighter wood, hand painted and decorated with pigment, and held together with natural fiber. The mask seems to represent some sort of smiling, benevolent spirit or character with its four eyes, bird beak, and cat-like ears. The mask is from a French collection. We were told that this mask, as well as others in the collection we have listed, was acquired originally in the 1950s-1960s in Alaska and the Yukon territory in Canada but as we have no way to verify or authenticate this. Please note we are listing the masks as decorative and not as actual tribal artifacts...

A beautiful, wonderfully crafted, quite engaging mask made for Japanese Kyogen Noh theatre. This mask is quite rare much like the Kitsune fox mask which this is sometimes confused f...

20th Century Antique Carved Wood Mask, African Art Solid wood, hand-carved, Africa probably century Very decorative. Comes from a Berlin private collection.

This early 20th century ‘Wayang topeng’ mask was used in Javanese masked dance performances. This mask features a dark red polychrome and resembles a bird-...

This is an antique Chokwe mask. A Central African, carved hardwood tribal face mask, dating to the late Victorian period, circa 1900. Fascinating t...

A visibly old mask from the Javanese masks theatre ‘wayang topeng’: carved from hard wood, and painted on the front side. This mask is from Cirebon in Ja...

20th Century Antique Carved Wood Mask, African Art Solid wood, hand-carved, Africa probably century Very decorative. Comes from a Berlin private collection.