Large African ceremony Kota Emboli boys Circumcision Mask from Gabon.

Hand carved from a single piece of wood.

Height: 79 cm.

This striking geometric half-helmet mask was made by the Kota (or possibly the Kwele) group from Gabon. The mask was used to accompany the rituals of male circumcision in the Ivindo Valley. This type of African mask served as entertainment or to impress by begging for gifts from the guests at this circumcision ceremony, for the young boys who were being circumcised. The base color of the face is white, with open eyes, thick eyelids, and a nose that tapers into high eyebrows. The head is dominated by a high, central crest that runs across the top of the head. At the bottom of the mask is a handgrip for holding the mask.
The Kota live in eastern Gabon and consist of several subgroups, including the Ndambomo, Mahongwe, Ikota-la-hua, Sake, Menzambi, and Bougom, some of which are also artistically distinct. Their society is largely egalitarian and gerontocratic, with an economy based on hunting and agriculture. Their relaxed social structure reflects their former mobility—they migrated to this region from the north in the 18th century—which may also explain their unusual burial rituals, where they could, in principle, take their ancestors anywhere. This is also reflected in the relatively small number of large objects in their cultural repertoire, as transporting unwieldy objects would have presented logistical challenges.
Their masquerade has been relatively little studied, but like most African groups, it has a standardized repertoire of colors and styles that express different characters and emotions. The dances take place during initiations, and the crests are said to reflect the sagittal crests of gorillas. White is the color of spirits and the afterlife in many tribes. Masquerades are very rare, as many traditional practices—including masquerade and reliquary—have been suppressed or fallen out of fashion. Furthermore, many older objects were deliberately destroyed between the 1940s and the 1960s by the "Culte de Demoiselles", who made every effort to eradicate traditional ways of life in an attempt to emulate the Western lifestyle.