Apouema mask figure

This mask, with its remarkable patina of use synonymous with great age, represents a human face. The perimeter is adorned with holes to hold the headdress and neckpiece, and the beard and cloak. The whole was blackened with bancoul nut powder(Aleurites molluccana Willd).

The almond-shaped eyes are not pierced, as the wearer looked through the mouth opening.

The nose is curved with flattened nostrils. The lipless mouth is limited to a simple opening. The chin is stylized by an inclined plane projecting forward.

Absent from mourning rituals like the masks of northern Grande Terre, the mask of central and southern France is more the image of a protean divinity.

Rejected by the first missionaries, the mask quickly disappeared as evangelization efforts progressed.

This model is similar to the one kept at the Musée du Quai Branly donated by André Vayson de Pradennes (Inv. n°71.1950.30.200), and to the one from the former Maurice de Vlaminck collection kept at the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle et d’Ethnographie de Lille (Inv n° 997.6.2).

Price on request