I liked it so I hung it in my house.

Body Art By Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku.

Hello everyone !

I was wondering what those masks are ? Is it identifiable with pictures only ?

I'm not even sure it's from Africa but it would be my first guess

Thanks a lot

"Imagina un univers de fantasia africà on aquestes són simplement les armes estàndard." @byramonade 9/8/26

Este post m'ha despertat la curiositat per la Història de l'Àfrica negra. Fora del que toca al Mediterrani o l'Islam, no dispose de biblioteca decent sobre el tema.

Source: @byramonade (Yoruba tribe, Nigeria) and @AChukwuche15183 on Twitter

I’m hoping someone with knowledge of Central African art, material culture, writing/graphic systems or ethnography might recognise something about this object.

The object is approximately 25 cm tall and is believed to have come from Central Africa, although unfortunately I don’t have a more precise provenance or date.

The main body is a hollow, slightly tapered cylinder made from what appears to be ivory, bone or another type of dentine (I haven't had the material professionally identified). It has a separate dark carved stopper, apparently wooden, incorporating several human/anthropomorphic figures. The stopper fits into the hollow cylinder, so presumably the object was originally intended to contain something.

There is also a small incised mark on the underside of the stopper.

What particularly interests me is the extraordinarily fine engraving covering the cylinder.

One side has a much larger, elaborate engraved composition. The other is covered by what looks almost like a table or information grid: repeated horizontal and vertical divisions containing many tiny recurring marks — ovals, hooks, bars, chevrons, ladder-like forms and densely cross-hatched rectangular areas.

Most intriguingly, long curved/diagonal lines appear to run across this grid independently of the individual cells. They seem to cross multiple rows and columns rather than simply forming borders around the smaller marks.

I’m trying not to impose a modern interpretation on it, but visually it made me wonder whether this could be more than decorative engraving — perhaps some form of graphic notation, mnemonic system, narrative diagram, route/map, cosmological representation, or other encoded information.

In researching possible comparisons, I’ve come across Central African traditions such as Chokwe/Lunda/Luchazi sona/tusona ideographs, Kongo graphic/ideographic traditions, and Kongo mnemonic objects. I am not claiming that the engraving belongs to any of these traditions — I mention them only because they seem like potentially relevant areas for comparison.

Likewise, carved ivory/tusk receptacles and elaborate tobacco/snuff containers are documented from several Central African cultures, but I don't know what this particular object originally contained.

I’d particularly love to hear from anyone who can help with any of the following:

• Does the style of the figurative stopper suggest a particular cultural or geographic origin?
• Does the cylinder look like elephant ivory/tusk, hippo ivory, bone, or something else?
• Do the repeated tiny marks resemble any documented Central African graphic or mnemonic tradition?
• Has anyone encountered a comparable grid crossed by continuous curved/diagonal lines?
• Could the larger engraved composition on the opposite side help identify its origin?
• Are there museum collections, ethnographic catalogues or academic sources containing similar objects?

I have additional photographs of the stopper, interior, underside mark and engravings and can photograph the complete circumference in detail if useful.

Any leads would be hugely appreciated — particularly references to museum objects or published ethnographic material that I could follow up.

Found at a opportunity shop in Australia

So I just bought this two pieces that caught my eye in an antique shop and really like to decorate my room? Just wondering if we have something special here (I really liked the punu mask) or this are just tourists pieces. Thanks!!!

Picked this up at an estate auction on a whim. Anyone able to tell me anything about it ?

Thanks so much

I purchased this from a vintage store in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The store manager told me it was some kind of Naga relic and that it was very old, but they didn’t know much more about it. I’m skeptical of that description and would love to know what it actually is.

It’s approximately 30 inches (76 cm) tall and appears to be entirely carved from wood. Wood is lightweight

I have this mask, no background info on it.

About 24” long, wood, animal face with horns and an open carved mouth. Row of small holes around the edge.

Trying to figure out:
• What tribe/style this is
• If it looks old and used, or made for tourists

A few things I noticed:
• Inside is dark and worn, not clean
• One horn is chipped, showing solid wood underneath
• Finish is uneven across the piece

First photo is the inside, since that seemed most useful. Any input appreciated.

Someone unloaded an old collection at a local library grift shop. Decided to take a chance. Good acquisition?

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