Female Mask

between 1850 and 1950

Waja, African

Not On View

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Despite their enormous size, yoke masks like this male and female pair are worn over the shoulders and possibly danced in ceremonies. A male and female pair of masks in this style are extremely rare and suggest that they portray the potent original ancestral couple to a group. The masks would have been worn with large costumes made from fiber and attached to the holes along the edges of the yokes.

Title Female Mask

Artwork Date between 1850 and 1950

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. African

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Waja

Medium Wood, ocher, and brass tacks

Dimensions Overall: 62 inches (157.5 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 78.42

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

collection of Gaston de Havenon. (F. Rolin and Co.)

1978-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Provenance page

Exhibition History

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Published References

African Masterworks In The Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington and London: The Detroit Institute of Arts and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995, cat. no. 38.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Waja, African, Female Mask, between 1850 and 1950, wood, ocher, and brass tacks. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art, 78.42.