African Wooden Mask Decorated With Pigment Tanzania Rohner Collection

This carved wooden mask from Tanzania features a stylized facial expression accented with applied pigment. The sculpted features and contrasting colors highlight the artisan's attention to form and detail. Tanzania is home to a diverse range of ethnic groups, each with distinct artistic traditions and approaches to mask carving. Wooden masks from the region may be associated with ceremonial performances, social gatherings, and cultural practices, depending on their community of origin. This piece offers an example of East African woodcarving and the use of pigment as a decorative element. From the Rohner Collection.

Provenance: John R. Rohner Collection
Rohner, a museum curator for decades, aimed his practiced eye for authenticity to African art beginning in the early 1980s. His passion for this art only grew through the decades he built his collection––always with an aim for a broad and representative array of pieces. The collection appears in his book, Art Treasures from African Runners (2000, University Press of Colorado). 

Item #616 on pg. 240

Height (in): 10.0
Width (in): 6.25
Depth (in): 4.75

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