Well-Used Makua Mask

This Makua mask, exported from Tanzania in the 1990s, shows significant signs of use. Makua masks are kept of their performer’s head by way of a cloth hood sewn or tacked around the perimeter of the carving. Here, an area below the chin was torn away through the stress of performance and subsequently lost. To preserve the mask, a piece of recycled leather was sewn on to replace the lost section. Deft details and the mask’s delicate walls indicate it likely dates to the second quarter of the twentieth century.

Aside from an intense flurry prior to Germany’s loss of Tanganyika during World War I, relatively little traditional East African art was exported to the West prior to the 1980s. There are many reasons for this. First, French and Belgian dealers, primarily based in Paris and Brussels, dominated the African art market as sellers and trendsetters. Naturally, they were better situated and adept at collecting in Francophone regions, which East Africa lacks. This early predominance of West African material from certain regions and not others served as a kind of confirmation bias that certain regions and particular ethnic groups produced more interesting and worthy objects. As sculptures from French colonies were many times more likely to inform Parisian artists during the birth of modernism, Western tastes were introduced, and became attuned to, the aesthetics of some regions of Africa more than others. East Africa was largely excluded from the conversation, particularly after Germany’s surrender and loss of colonial territory. As a result, East African art is far less well known in the West. Little of it was in circulation and its influence on artists and on modernism was minimal. At the same time, less was exported and more was still in the field later in the twentieth century.

This mask comes from the Makua of southeast Tanzania.The Makua live alongside the Makonde and have similar traditional beliefs. Along the coast, the majority of Makua follow Islam and masking is now in decline. Makua and Makonde masks can be hard to differentiate. All mapico style helmet masks are Makonde, but face masks, also known as half-masks, from this region are used by both groups. Makua and Makonde masks depict a wide variety of characters drawn form both folklore and secular culture. The red color of the mask suggest that it may represent a sun-burned European. $600

8″ H

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