Mid-Century African Yoruba Mask

Beautiful Yoruba mask with a dark  wood patina. Facial features are very angular with scarification on both cheeks and forehead.

The Yoruba mask is a piece of sculpture that is both artistic and functional. The carved work fulfils one or more of several functions—sacred or profane, personal or communal, serious or satirical. As an object it has only its relatively insignificant quota of vital energy that is found, according to African ontology, in all matter and substance of the visible world- animal, vegetable and mineral. But the Yoruba mask also has a force that extends to the world of spirits and gods. These masks also have the dual effect of transforming the wearer and the ambivalence of serving good and evil ends. This indicates that the Yoruba mask apart from its spiritual essence is a symbol of great complexity and ambiguity.

Date: 20th Century
Origin: Yoruba people
Country: Nigeria
Material: Wood
Height: 50 cms
Width: 20 cms

Source:"Soyinka and Yoruba Sculpture: Masks of Deification and Symbolism".
Gilbert Tarka Fai
University of Maroua, Cameroon

Expected surface wear with scuffs, chips, abrasions commensurate with age and use. The wood has developed a warm patina resulting from age and use.