African Mask

[Molly7970]

African mask- i think. Found it in my attic. My grandpa traveled a lot because he was the basketball coach for the olympic team back in the 70s. He ended up with a lot of cool stuff. Just was hoping to get an idea of what its worth. Thanks in advance!

 

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[bradyboy]

whats the other side look like?
brady

 

[bradyboy]

folks that post a valid question on an item and never respond - what's up with that.
why waste the time to photograph and post if you you don't plan to follow thru
a single pic of an item with limited info on an item usually will result in questions and more pics for folks here to investigate and offer an educated guess
just saying
brady

 

[Al D]

A tourist piece, not worth much

 

[claypile]

Not a worthy piece actually unless you show us all the details on it.

 

[Deb Nic]

I have something similar was sold to friend on a patrol boat by natives that paddled up with this.He brought me 2 of those but disimilar in wear on inside. One was not smoothed at all inside like made specifically for wall hanging but other could be worn without any uncomfort. He bought those 2 a drum and smoked fish with head on near guam or vietnam. As a kid thats all I remembered. Ended up getting wood boring beetles. I was informed both were by fumigators not worth fumigating as made for tourists. Drum still gets played looks like goatskin but the wood on drum which did not get affected by worms at all looks to be from a light colored tree not black. Does the mask fit well? Good luck on your search.

 

[Red-Coat]

Seems like some folks don't really want to be helped (unless perhaps they get a hoped-for response that they're sitting on a small fortune). Molly didn't respond on the thread with the apparently resin-cast 'ivory' tusks either.

Nevertheless this doesn't look like wood to me. It appears to be stone and in several places I can see the tell-tale parallel marks from relatively modern rotary steel tools used to carve it.

Stylistically, it has some resemblance to Baule masks from the Ivory Coast... a popular choice for non-authentic tourist/collector items sold on African markets from the mid-1900s onwards. This one is carved from wood, not stone:

 

[OttoGabriel]

This are great treasures. Its value is entirely on you. Value is so subjective and don't let anyone degrade what you value or what your Dad valued. Keep it. You have a story to tell.

 

[jolinemelina]

I have five of those masks which I bought in Masai Market in Kenya but different designs. I bought one for around 25usd.