PASSPORT MASKS ARCHIVES

The masks below have been sold and are left here for educational and research purposes.

MBACKA Passport Mask 1 7" high SOLD

BASSA Passport Mask 605 7" high SOLD

WE / GUERE Passport Mask 1 3.5" high SOLD

LEGA Passport Mask 30 6" high SOLD

BASSA Passport Mask 601 8" high SOLD

The passport masks above were vetted as authentic with signs of use and age.

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The passport-style masks below were judged to have been made for the art market.

IGBO Passport Mask 1 6.5" high SOLD

BAMANA Passport Mask 2 8" high SOLD

LWALWA Passport Mask 1 6.5" high SOLD

TOMA Passport Mask 5 4.5 - 9.5" high SOLD

BOBO Passport Mask 1 6" high SOLD

BAMANA Passport Mask 1 8.75" high SOLD

SONGYE Passport Mask 1 6" high SOLD

TOMA Passport Mask 6 7" high SOLD

HEMBA Passport Masks 4.25" - 5.5" high ALL SOLD

MINIATURE MASKS, West and Central Africa

The best known tradition of using miniature masks were by the Dan people of Liberia and the Ivory Coast.

The Dan people carried small masks (less than 20 cm high) which are sometimes called "passport" masks. They are sewn onto a piece of cloth and kept in a leather pouch and possibly worn in the small of the back. They are miniature copies of a family mask and sometimes received libations. These apotropaic masks also act as witnesses during initiation ceremonies.

-----From The Tribal Arts of Africa by Jean-Baptiste Bacquart.

Please note the sizes carefully. Photographs of small objects can make them appear much larger than they are.