Primitive Makishi African Painted Over Woven Hemp Ceremonial Mask Headdress

Description

Up for your consideration is an exquisite antique African ceremonial mask or headdress from either Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, or the Dominican Republic all countries in Africa, and the exact origin and date of creation is unknown as there are no markings, dates ,or any other clues to its origin and date however, it is antique as it has been in our family for decades. The mask or headdress can be worn over one's head, mounted on a display stand, or wall mounted on a wall using a small nail on the tip of its hat to pound into a wall. Africans continue today to reenact ancient ceremonial dances to ward off evil spirits from causing harm to the peoples of of their tribe like disastrous wind, rain, other natural occurrences, and they continue to wear their traditional masks and headdresses very much like the antique headdress in this listing made from ancient materials like mud and vegetable dyes that Africans don't make any more. The mask headdress, in this listing, is an initiation mask where a tribesman has reached a certain age and is then initiated into tribal life and now able to dance in a ceremony to ward off evil spirits. The mask is made from woven hemp fibers from the hemp plant or industrial hemp which is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth next to bamboo grassy cane plant making this mask a textile or woven fabric mask rather than a wood mask like many other African masks that are made from wood. Hemp was one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber as far back as 50,000 years ago, and is still in wide use today for fabric clothing and braided rope to name a few as well as the fabric on this mask in this listing.
The woven hemp mask, in this listing, has a tight crisscrossing weave to it, and after the mask is woven, stretched around its wire framing inside of it is painted with mud and vegetable dyes from common vegetables mixed with hemp oil to form a paint to paint this lovely mask. The background color of the mask is done in a dark brown color mixed with mud from the river beds in Africa, the ceremonial pattern on the mask is done in a russet color vegetable dye framed in white paint as are the eyes, nose, and mouth, and all three are stuffed with hemp stitched onto the mask giving the mask a three dimensional raised from the surface look to them. The long beard on this unique & unusual mask is done in an unraveled and unpainted hemp fiber giving it the appearance of a real beard and also covers the neck of the wearer of the mask during an African ceremony.
The mask is hand woven from hemp fibers, the seam that holds it together is done in a common cross stitch found on the tip of the hat in back of it stitched together after the mask was stretched around its wire framing found inside the mask (picture #9). The mask is constructed from wire framing made from heavy gage wire and forms the head piece making it a headdress. The wire is bent in a circle with a bisecting half circle joined in the middle of it to make it fit on one's head, and the wire bends down all the way around the chin of the mask to stretch the fabric even more forming the face of the mask. The wire framing inside also extends all the way up to its pointed hat to stretch the fabric all the way around the wire framing to form a hat on this primitive looking mask headdress (picture #10).
Today, African masks and headdresses have become quite collectible as there is an abundance of modern day remakes and souvenirs of all sorts of African tribal masks from countries like Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, the Congo to name a few. Collector's have large collections of African masks some antique and some remakes making large wall arrangements with them for home décor  projects as each mask has a charm and charisma all their own. This mask is ideal for a Plexiglas encased pedestaled display stand so that the fabric it is woven from doesn't deteriorate or collect too much dust however, I did scotch guard it at one point so that dusting is a cinch just wipe it with a soft cloth and the dust will come right off. If you don't want to enclose it it would make a nice center piece for a wall arrangement of other similar or dissimilar masks too. If you decorate in the Hollywood Regency style of décor where animal trophy's like zebra heads, deer heads, impala heads, zebra rugs, or other such primitives this mask will just fit in your decorating scheme.
The mask measures 28" from the tip of the hat on top to the tip of the longest beard hair X 8" wide X 10" deep inside the mask, and this mask headdress is in extremely good antique condition with the exception of some of the beard stands that have fallen off over time but after all the mask is over 100 years old making it not perfect like most antiques.
Good luck! Any questions? Please Email me right away! Please see my other treasures on my EBAY site by clicking on "SELLER'S OTHER ITEMS." Don't hesitate to make a 'reasonable' offer as my pricing is flexible too.