African Arts Gallery

French collection of French African art.
Rare fetish statuette associated with the large snake mask of the Baga groups. Abraded patina of use. Slight drying cracks.
The initiatory African mask, serpentiform, used mainly by the Bulongic (village of Kifinda), Baga subgroup of the Guinean coast, can measure up to 2.50 m. These masks were divided into two groups with the names Mosolo kombo and Sangaran, each with specific functions. Their design took shape in an esoteric context, at night in the heart of the forest. Privileges of initiated men, embodying a spiritual entity, Baga Sangaran masks were only present at circumcision, every 24 years according to ethnologist Denise Paulme. During certain dances the mask was placed on the head, held in balance by a bamboo structure and by the arms of the wearer himself covered with a cloth and a raffia loincloth. Among the Baga Koba, the mask was worn on the shoulder, without costume. In other groups, the mask appeared in different contexts.