Mask - Markha Maraka - Bamabara - Mali (No reserve price)

This African mask, extended by a long narrow face, features a rectangular nose overshadowing prominent lips. The forehead displays zoomorphic elements. Metallic inlays, striped with decorative motifs, are generally nailed onto the surface. It has a matte brown patina, with small damages and a missing part (at the tip of the ear).
In African art, the Marka, Maraka in Bamana, Warka, or Sarakolé, are Muslim city dwellers of Soninke origin, established south of the Niger, dispersed since the end of the Ghana Empire in Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. They now speak Bamana and have adopted many Bambara traditions, such as Ntomo and Koré, initiation societies that used masks during their ceremonies. Bambara and Marka African art sculptors are part of the Numuw, who are not tied to any ethnicity and are free to settle wherever they wish.