Miniature Bassa Mask

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

20th century

Geography

Liberia

Culture

Bassa

Medium

Wood, camwood powder

Dimensions

2.4 x 1.5 x 0.6 in (6.2 x 3.7 x 1.5 cm)

Credit Line

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

Accession Number

2020.194

Provenance

Acquired by David P. Harris; source and date unknown, but likely acquired sometime in the 1970s. This object could possibly be the unidentified item listed on the receipt document for 2020.2 or the unidentified item listed on the receipt/appraisal document for 2020.13.

Condition

This mask is in excellent condition. There are some minor scratches. A faint shiny gold patina is most prominent on the tip of the nose, the chin, and just under the mouth. The reverse has also been rubbed smooth.

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

In several West African communities, miniature masks or Ma Go (literally ‘small head’) are used for various personal, familial, and spiritual purposes. Bassa artists made this mask, but miniature masks are also common in Dan, Loma, and Mano communities, among others. Even on their minute scale— this example is just two and a half inches tall and one and a half inches wide—these masks are detailed and highly stylized. Like their larger counterparts, they sometimes have distinct cultural and spiritual types and meanings. Typically, these small masks are made for personal use and function as portable objects of protection and connection. Miniature masks may be made in the form of a particular full-sized mask whose spirit holds significance for the family or person who owns the miniature, a physical tether to that spirit and one’s ancestors.

Just as with larger masks, miniatures have distinct combinations of features that identify them as belonging to a particular community. This mask’s sharply sloped chin, which ends in a point, is a feature common to Bassa masks. Another is the coiffure. This miniature’s coiffure consists of small, vertically divided coils that extend across the crown of the head. The inclusion of plaits in the mask is relatively uncommon among masking communities in the region. According to scholars, other communities’ full-size masks are often without a coiffure because the mask’s hairline is generally covered by another part of the full ensemble during masquerades. However, this is not the case in Bassa masquerades (National Museum of African Art). These characteristic inclusions and exclusions carry over to their smaller counterparts.

The specific purpose and uses of miniature masks vary between communities and from mask to mask. Most often, miniatures are based on a corresponding mask and are connected to the associated spirit. According to some scholars, in Dan and Mano communities, miniature masks are usually only possessed by the wearer of a corresponding full-sized mask. In others, such as the Bassa community, anyone may have a miniature mask. Other scholars disagree, explaining that in Dan and Mano communities, anyone who has a connection to a mask may have a miniature.

Bassa communities typically have two types of miniature masks. In addition to the miniatures made of full-sized masks (Ma Go), they also have personal miniatures that are instead stylized portraits of their owners. Visually, these two types are very similar. More context about the piece is thus needed to differentiate which type a miniature is.

Constant handling and use, as well as the oils sometimes applied, often give miniatures a patina in places, making sections appear lighter or almost translucent (Met Museum no. 1979.206.311). This one has a faint shiny gold patina, most prominent on the tip of the nose, the chin, and just under the mouth. The reverse has also been rubbed smooth.

Historically, African miniature masks have frequently been termed “passport masks” in Western art circles because of a misinformed belief that miniature masks functioned primarily as a means of identification. While miniature masks are sometimes used in ritual practices and carried with a person when traveling, identification is not generally one of their main functions.

Works Cited

Meneghini, Mario. “The Bassa Mask.” African Arts 6, no. 1 (1972): 44-48, 88. https://doi.org/10.2307/3334641.

Siegmann, William and Cynthia Schmidt. Rock of the Ancestors, ŋamôa kɔni: Liberian Art and Material Culture from the Collections of the Africana Museum. Cuttington University College, 1977, [vi], 1-34.

Mercer Thomas '27 (Fall 2026)