Fang mask with base

Traditional heart-shaped mask (with the convex forehead and the mouth forming the lower contour of the mask), called Ngontang. She has a face of great beauty and contained serenity. Made with acacia wood. Its typical colors, kaolin white, black and red in the mouth, and its delicate and stylized forms inspired Picasso and other European avant-garde artists who took them as the basis for their artistic revolution. Until the French colonial authorities prohibited them, these masks had a judicial function since they were worn by criminals and those guilty of hexes. The Fang ethnic group is known for carving masks and sculptures, it is based on the western coast of Africa, between Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, where it comes from.