This is a very bold and powerful looking mask from the Douala peoples of Cameroon, West Africa. Carved from a single piece of wood with polychrome multicolored design and a dry patina. The culture of the Douala, a coastal people, is dominated by the proximity of the sea, which distinguishes them in many respects from the inland peoples. The main characteristic of the art of their masks is the horned animal (buffalos and marsh antelopes) depicted in polychromed wood.Although these nyatti masks were worn horizontally on the head, like the groups inland, they have their own specific characteristics: a flat outline instead of rounded forms, extremely stylized features evoking animals in a geometric style, and instead of the habitual black they are poly-chromed black, white and red. The mask itself measures 20 inches tall x 8 inches wide. This lot includes a display stand

Overall good condition