Loma mask (re-attributed to Kpelle)

An update to an old post, that lacks a lot of informations on this beautiful maskette, in my collection since 10 years ago. I had it from Craig De Lora tribal arts (New Jersey) with this provenances:

Paolo Morigi – Lugano 1981 – Acquired from Dorothy Robbins – then William Brill Collection, NYC (INV on back 997 ) - Published Tribal Art Magazine 2007 - (Also Illustrated in Brill's living room photo found in the Sotheby's 2006 Brill Catalog ). In all the previous collections the mask was called a Toma - Loma Angbai Maa mask.

This update has been done because of a personal communication from the friend Neil Carey, who is a scholar especially expert on Poro area, and who re-attributes the mask to Kpelle.

This is the text of his opinion:

Hello Federico. Despite its provenance, the Loma/Toma piece is not a Loma/Toma Angbai mask. It is a Kpelle/Guerze Nyamu mask, with the typical brow, three curled iron pins, elongated simple nose, angulated, almost accordion-like facial planes, and perifacial design motif seen on many Bakorogui and Kpelle/Guerze masks. They are often large, worn horizontally, and have articulated jaws. Their small miniature counterparts, like the ma masks of other groups like the Dan Ga gon masks, usually lack a representation of the separate jaw, although I have some where the jaw is represented by a slit, although not articulated. I cannot tell from your photo if the eyes are whitish metal (aluminum), but it appears so, so this is a Kpelle/Guerze mask belonging to the Boys' level of Poro. A very nicely done piece.


Different were the opinions of two other experts, and between them Edmondo Trombetta who lived many years in Liberia and who collected a lot of old items, who still think this mask is from Toma - Loma people.

In any case is a wonderful old example of Liberian art and I think it's one of the gems of my collection.


Last update:
Another good friend, Phil Warish, adds some further considerations on this maskette:
Without speaking in absolutes, I'd like to add some reinforcment to the Kpelle/Guerze theory. While there is some similarity in style and form between certain types of Kpelle/Guerze and Loma masks/maskettes there is a difference with yours Federico that seems to be distinct to the Kpelle/Guerze... those lateral grooves. This detail is sometimes present on Loma pieces but is almost always accompanied by a representation of a mouth on the frontal plane. That I know of, only Kpelle/Guerze render mouths/jaws this way on this particular form and that the attributions are very often mixed up.


Phil had also found an auction passage of this mask on 2006 (Arte Primitivo NYC, December 4, 2006. Lot 346).



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