KOTA MASK
USD 660.00
Material_Wood
Origin_Africa
Period_Mid 1900s
Dimensions_W16cm D18cm H45cm
Product Number_#0142
Description_African mask Mahongwe, whose concave structure ending in a point and offering lines in relief would have inspired many cubist artists. However, despite its similarity to the faces of Picasso's "Demoiselles d'Avignon", the mask from the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva was brought back to Europe long after the famous canvas was created. The Mahongwe are about 15,000 settled in the east of Gabon. Close to the Kota, they are known for their figures of guardians of reliquaries similar to the heads of Naja deployed and covered on the face with juxtaposed copper wires. The Mahongwe, Obamba, Shamaye and Sango form with the Kota a group with similar rites and society. It is in the eastern part of Gabon that they live among the forests. Some crossed the Congo border after going up the sources of the Ogooue.