Mask - Guinea (No reserve price)

Nimba

Statuette Baga Demba Nimba

The Baga masks are renowned for their characteristic being worn on the shoulders. These large wooden masks, topped with anthropomorphic heads, inspired the creation of smaller altar figurines such as this piece, designed very similarly to the big masks.

This one is a miniature representation. The arched torso features a characteristic pendulous chest.

The elongated head pierced by a projecting nose is surmounted by a sagittal crest aligned with the nose. Small semicircular ears stand out on either side while engravings create a beard and scarifications.

The Baga are among the first peoples to have settled in the Conakry region of Guinea. It was the immigrants who pushed them back to the coastal plain of Lower Guinea as well as into the forested regions.