Helmet mask

The Baining of the Gazelle Peninsula are famous for their large and dramatic masks, worn during day and night dancing ceremonies (see Rubin, 1984: I: 116, for a colossal example from the north-West Baining, which is over twenty-three feet high).

This example comes from the central Baining and is a type of helmet mask called km/at, which are distinguished by large eyes and a tongue-like projection at the mouth. These were worn for night dances, and Corbin (1979) states that the designs refer to a variety of natural and manufactured forms. They are painted in black and red, and the back of the upper disc has a lateral band of zig-zag designs in the same colours.

Steven Hooper, 1997

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, Vol. 2: Pacific, African and Native North American Art, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997) p. 66.