The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Helmet Mask

Helmet Mask

early to mid-1900s
wood
Overall: 122 cm (48 1/16 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1972.336
Location: not on view

Description

The iconography of this helmet mask is comprised of sculpted renderings of different animal attributes including a ram's horns, a warthog's tusks, a crocodile's mouth, and a hyena's snout. Carved between the long antelope horns is a miniature chameleon that holds an abstract wing-shaped motif called mangele. Intended to impress and terrify, the sculpture's fearsome aesthetic alludes to the mask's power as an anti-sorcery device.
  • Julius Carlebach, New York
    Julius Carlebach, New York; Katherine White Reswick
  • CMA 1973: "Year in Review 1972," CMA Bulletin LX (March, 1973), p. 106, no. 29.
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 18, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Helmet Mask|url=false|author=|year=early to mid-1900s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.336