About this artwork
Incarnating ancestral spirits, Makonde helmet masks appear in dances that celebrate the conclusion of initiation rituals for adolescent boys and girls. In this darkbrown male example, real human hair has been applied to the skull in irregular patterns that imitate a once-fashionable hairstyle. Its other lifelike characteristics include angular scarification marks and chipped teeth. The artist’s proper name— Diteka—is inscribed in Swahili on the mask’s cheek.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of Africa
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Culture
- Makonde
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Artist
- Diteka
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Title
- Helmet Mask (Lipiko)
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Places
- Mozambique (Object made in), Africa (Object made in)
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Date
- 1900-1950
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Medium
- Wood, pigment, and human hair
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Inscriptions
- Diteka (left side of head)
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Dimensions
- H.: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Through prior bequest of Florene May Schoenborn
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Reference Number
- 2017.106