Pasadena - Masks

Woman’s Gucci pony hair belt with brass buckle.

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...

Unusual Japanese Folk Art theatre mask depicting the playful character Mitsumekozo, a three eyed goblin often portrayed as a mischevious creature in comical plays, late Meiji period,...

A beautiful, wonderfully crafted, alluring mask made for Japanese Noh theatre. This mask is handcrafted and carved from natural wood. Ko-omote translates as "little mask" or sometimes "small face." This particular delicate featured mask (her red lips really stand out) is used for main and sometimes secondary roles when the character is a young girl or, in some cases, a supernatural being. What is also interesting about this mask is the blackened teeth which centuries ago, was customary for Japanese women to paint their teeth black after they became married. We believe this mask dates from the mid-to early Showa period, perhaps Mejia. The mask was acquired from an antique mask...

A truly beautiful, wonderfully crafted, alluring female mask made for the Japanese Noh theatre. This mask is handcrafted and carved from natural wood and lacquer. Omi-Onna's (...

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...

A beautiful and large example of Oceanic art, this delightful woven mask would have been used on the gable of a middle Sepik meeting house. The wildly expressive form is accentuated ...

A wonderful, beautifully crafted Japanese festival Shishi Lion Dance (Shishi Mai) mask (Gashira). The shishi mask represents a mythical lion that prote...

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 ...

A beautiful, wonderfully crafted, alluring mask made for Japanese Noh theatre. The mask is handcrafted and hand-carved from natural wood and is signed by the maker. This mask is of the immortal character Doji who symbolizes perpetual and eternal youth ("doji" literally translates as "child") in the Noh theater world. He is portrayed as a handsome male...

A Japanese Edo period "Noh" theater mask from the 17th to 19th century. Created in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868), this mask captures our attention with its striking expression and contrasting colors. Noh, a form of theater involving music, dance and drama and originating in the 14th century, uses...

Very important “Nwantamtay” dance African mask, consisting of three sections: The upper in plain rectangular shape surmounted by a crescent shape moon, the middle with beautiful geometric triangles in black bitumen and white kaolin, surrounding a red cruciform in the centre of remarkable contrasting colors, and the lower part or face inscribed in a circular space that inspired numbered great artists like Joan Miro, Picasso and Henry Moore of a very strongly solar symbolism, with a projecting protuberance emanating from the forehead like a sculpted bird beak, that descents toward the mouth. Concentric eyes harmonize with the circular mouth, both with of elegant proportions. The whole mask exudes a supreme harmony and perfect balance rarely seen in this pieces. The back-side presents nice ware that attested the ancient origin and traces of animistic ceremonies as the use of animal blood residues. The painting of brown bitumen or cola, the natural colorants in red and ocher tones and the white kaolin are original and do not show any repainted or restored areas, giving a freshness rarely seen in old pieces. This exceptional mask Bwa, of the Hound`e Region in Burkina-Fasso, was used it the transit ceremonies and funerals manifesting the presence of “Do”, name given to their God sons, protectors and powerful spirits. The round face also represents an owl, the curving beak of the bird plants a seed into the sun, like a female sexual vulva being fecundated by the male organ; the eternal symbol of Ying and Yang, masculine and feminine, and the quest of life and death. This mask of Primitive facture can be compared to the one in the celebrated Verite Collection (this one being larger) sold in Paris at the Hotel Drouot, Saturday June 17, Lot 59, for 80,000 Euros and remarkably stands out from the Pierre and Tannia Matisse sold in Sotheby’s, New York in May 13, 2011. Another similar piece was published in: “Arman et l’art africain...