Ngere Mask

Creator

Preview

Culture

Poro society

Medium

Wood

Dimensions

12 1/16 x 6 3/16 x 3 8/16 in. (30.63 x 15.71 x 8.89 cm)

8.7 oz. (250.6 oz)

Credit Line

Bequest of David P. Harris ('46), 2020

Accession Number

2020.11

Provenance

Purchased by David P. Harris ('46) at Von Barghahn Gallery in Washington D.C, in the mid-1970s.

References

Brad Hostetler, with Ani Parnagian, "From Private to Public: The Collection of David P. Harris," in Ethiopian Objects in the Blick-Harris Study Collection: Art, Context, and the Persistence of Form, eds. Brad Hostetler, and Lynn Jones, Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art & Architecture 8, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 5–25. https://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol8/iss1/1/

Description

This unusual and awesome Port Society mask has an elaborately carved hairdo extending down over a third of the front of the mask, the eyes and nostrils are rendered as tube-like protuberances, the slit of the mouth runs completely through the piece. A rope of braided hair has been attached by nails around two-thirds of the sides, and there are small, close-set holes around the edges of the piece for attachment to the wearer's head covering.