Mask (Gela)
Arts of Africa
This very rare Sapo mask would have been used in a performance enacting a terrifying force from the forest. In a society historically without kings or centralized states, the mask may have exerted the will of village elders by imposing economic prohibitions or organizing hunting parties to provide for and protect the village.
MEDIUM
Wood, metal, cowrie shells, bluing, kaolin, animal teeth, antelope and duiker horn, boar tusk, plant fibers, textile, mud, ceramic
DATES
20th century
DIMENSIONS
16 x 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (40.6 x 36.8 x 29.2 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
2013.61.1
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J Gordon Douglas III and Dr. and Mrs Milton Gross, by exchange
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Mask with carved, wooden hands framing sides. Antelope horns extend from mask’s center and short-horned buffalo (bushcow) horns create a crown shape at top. Boar tusks, cowrie shells, and pouches are added adornments. The mask has an independently carved, articulated jaw. Blue pigment (reckitt’s blue), kaolin, and other organic material are on mask's surface.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Sapo. Mask (Gela), 20th century. Wood, metal, cowrie shells, bluing, kaolin, animal teeth, antelope and duiker horn, boar tusk, plant fibers, textile, mud, ceramic, 16 x 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (40.6 x 36.8 x 29.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J Gordon Douglas III and Dr. and Mrs Milton Gross, by exchange, 2013.61.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2013.61.1_overall_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2013.61.1_overall_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2014
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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we welcome any additional information you might have.
Can you provide me with more information about this mask.
Made by a Sapo artist, the gela mask blends human and animal features. You'll notice that while the head shape is that of a human, a boar's snout takes the place of a human nose. The mask also includes animal teeth, antelope horns, and boar tusks. The feral nature and appearance of the gela acts as a counterexample to humans who are encouraged to embrace order and civilization.
Is this from a female society?
Not quite. This Sapo Gela Mask was used in a performance to enact a terrifying force from the forest, home to untamed creatures. They are often called upon to reconcile problems within a community.
It is believed that gela can gather up the ill will and negative feelings plaguing a community and deposit them back into the forest, where the untamed forces of nature rule.
