Rare African Aluminum Makonde Belly mask - Tanzania.
Size: 47 cm high.
The belly masks are cast from aluminum.

They are beautifully decorated on the abdomen and breasts.
The owner of this mask had to hold a high social and economic position in the Makondé community, as aluminum is a valuable metal in this region.
Body masks celebrate the return of young men to the village after their initiation into adulthood.
The men who wear them cover their faces with a female mask, which dances with great coolness, while a male mask dramatizes the pain of childbirth.
A drum orchestra accompanies the dances.

MAKONDE, Tanzania/Mozambique. Wood, pigments. 'Lipico' helmet mask featuring a feminine face with angular facial features, characterized by long eyelashes, black eyebrows and a labret on the upper lip. The 'Mapico (plural of lipico') masks were worn by men during long nighttime performances. They symbolically build the gender boundary between men and women and express the moral and political concerns of society. Slots and restorations.

Ex. Austrian private collection.