Fang Mask, Gabon

asu-nkukh
height 12in (30.5cm)

Provenance
Alfred Scheinberg Gallery, New York
Drs. John and Nicole Dintenfass Collection, New York

Louis Perrois notes, 'Most asu-nkukh masks, both large and small, have the characteristic Fang scarification design ("rake," "arrow point," half circle, punctuate, "mustache," etc.) on the cheeks and temples, as observed by G. Tessman (Tessman, Gunther, Die Pangwe, Volkerkundliche Monographie eines west-Afrikanischen negerstammes, Berlin/Leipzig, 1913, vol. I, pp. 265-266). The designs are either incised or carved in low relief, and are then blackened. . . These masks always display great sculptural finesse, with surfaces that are smooth and whitened with kaolin. They appear to be the result of a long sculptural tradition but unfortunately their precise symbolic meaning has been lost. ("Fang Masks of Equatorial Africa - Relationship, Diversity, Evolution," Tribal Art, Autumn/Winter, 2008, no. 50, p. 101)

Finely carved in light wood in oval form, the face whitened by kaolin with incised scarification on the cheeks and divided by a long, narrow, arching nose and terminating with a diminutive slit mouth on the bottom edge; the eyes of simple incision below a protruding forehead highlighted with a design suggesting a tree branch motif; wear indicative of much cultural use.