This Janus-faced ngontang helmet mask covers the full head of its wearer and is carved from a single block of wood. As a sculptural object, the mask is roughly accordion-shaped, with a ridged central section connecting a pair of relatively flat faces.

Title: Helmet Mask: Janus. Date: 19th–mid-20th century. Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo. Culture: Bembe peoples. Medium: Wood, paint, clay. Dimensions: H. 18 11/16 x W. 12 5/8 x D. 13 3/4 in. (47.5 x 32 x 34.9 cm) Classification: Wood-Sculpture. Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A ...

Title: Janus Helmet Mask (Wanyugo) Date: 19th–mid-20th century. Geography: Côte d'Ivoire, northern Côte d'Ivoire, Bandama River region. Culture: Senufo peoples. Medium: Wood, pigment. Dimensions: H. 30 3/16 x W. 10 1/4 in. (76.8 x 26 cm) Classification: Wood-Sculpture.

From our private collection, on offer is this splendid janiform helmet mask from the Ekoi/Ejagham peoples of Nigeria. The Ekoi are known for their unusual, dramatic masks & headcrests - often impressively sized structures with multiple faces &/or appendages.

Two types of masks dominate: helmet masks and crest masks. The helmet mask covers the entire head of the wearer reaching to the shoulders. When the mask is made fresh animal skin is stretched and tacked over the soft wood from which it is carved.

ALUNGA MASK FOR ALUNGA SPIRIT. This Janus helmet mask is decorated with pigments (kaolin in circular cavities). The head and the eyes are totally stylized with geometrical forms. The colours generally used for this mask are white, red and black; there is …

Tribal 'Fire Spitter' Janus Double Helmet Mask from the Senufo people, Ivory Coast, Africa. Horizontal Kponungo, or funeral head mask, used in initiation and anti-witchcraft ceremonies. Zoomorphic Wanyugo masks may include imagery from antelopes, buffaloes, crocodiles, warthogs, hornbills, chameleons and humans combined to symbolize power and ...

Dec 2, 2015 · The Janus form of the Bembe alunga society mask, crowned with a headdress of feathers and porcupine quills, is worn to celebrate the return of its most recent initiates to village life." (Metropolitan Museum of Art, WEB, nd.)

Janus-faced helmet mask with many holes borne on the hairline. and a piece of jute textile attached to the chin of one of the faces, depicting the beard.

This exceptional example has a solid wooden core carved with two similar faces in opposing directions, often referred to as a Janus face. The strikingly lifelike faces, covered with leather, have eyes made of separate pieces of leather pegged into the finished piece.