260968 - Rare African Makonde LIPIKO helm mask - Tanzania.

260968 - Rare African Makonde LIPIKO helm mask - Tanzania.
€145.00

Rare African Makonde Lipiko helm mask - Tanzania.
Size: 25 cm high and 22 cm deep.

This Makonde mask from northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania is a type of helmet mask known as *lipiko*; it represents an ancestral figure with a broad face resting on a thick neck. The mask embodies an ancestral spirit.
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.