Fang helmet mask, Gabon, wood, feather - Lot 81

Lot 81
Go to lot
Estimation :
600 - 800 EUR
Fang helmet mask, Gabon, wood, feather - Lot 81
Fang helmet mask, Gabon, wood, feather H.60cmxW.28cm The ngontang mask, the young white woman, is the best-known Fang mask, after the rare ngil masks. It features two or four faces, like this one, sculpted in relief on a cylinder, enhanced with kaolin and decorated with scarification marks incised with red-hot iron. The ngontang mask evokes the spirit of a woman returning to protect the living; the color white is that of departed spirits and also that of reincarnation as a white man from elsewhere, a belief that was widespread among the Fang in the past. This mask was danced for funerals and major family events; unlike the ngil mask, it was not frightening. According to Louis Perrois (1997), the incised or pyrographed decorations on these masks are exactly like the tattoos of the ancient Fang Ntoumou and Betsi.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue