Helmet Mask

Description

The iconography of this helmet mask is comprised of sculpted renderings of different animal attributes including a ram's horns, a warthog's tusks, a crocodile's mouth, and a hyena's snout. Carved between the long antelope horns is a miniature chameleon that holds an abstract wing-shaped motif called mangele. Intended to impress and terrify, the sculpture's fearsome aesthetic alludes to the mask's power as an anti-sorcery device.

Provenance

Julius Carlebach, New York; Julius Carlebach, New York; Katherine White Reswick

Helmet Mask

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early to mid-1900s

Accession Number

1972.336

Medium

wood

Dimensions

Overall: 122 cm (48 1/16 in.)

Classification

Mask

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Katherine C. White