Rectangular shaped mask with a wide mouth, a broad nose, wearing a helmet with two crescent-shaped horns and coated with possibly sacrificial material. 1.77 kg, 39 cm



From Mali, West Africa. From a Glasgow ethnographical collection; formed 1940s-1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Carved in the round with large discoid panel for the head with high-relief facial features; small body with arms spread, resting on a rectangular comb with six tines. 483 grams, 41.7 cm



From Southern Ghana, West Africa. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Fertility and children are the most frequent themes in the wooden sculptures of the Asante. The most numerous works are akua’ba fertility figures. The are dolls with disk-shaped heads embodying their concept of beauty and carried by women who want to become pregnant and to deliver a beautiful child.

Carved with tubular eyes, a wide mouth with metal plate teeth, a broad nose and raffia hair around the whole mask. 1.15 kg, face long: 28.5 cm



From Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, West Africa. From an old Newbury, UK, ethnographic collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Masks are owned by families and used by individual lineage members in contexts of social control, boy’s circumcision camps, and entertainment. Most We masks were created to frighten with the gaping jaws and tubular eyes. Modern ethnology puts the Wobe and Guere together under the name We, despite the fact that the people themselves use the old names.

Deltoid in plan and with slight midrib, shank with knop finial for attachment. 21 grams, 98 mm



From Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, specialist collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Lobi arts also include a wide variety of small human and animal images, implements, and more abstract symbols in copper alloy and iron. Some of these are worn as jewelry and some appear on shrines.

Carved from light-coloured, lightweight wood in traditional form and dyed black; large, round head, with striated hairstyle to the centre, large eyes and three short lines representing the typical tribal scarification marks on the forehead; tapering body and stub arms, tiered base. 532 grams, 46.5 cm



From Ghana, West Africa. From the private collection of Mr N.J., Leicester, UK; acquired circa 2010. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Among the Ashanti people in Ghana, women hoping for offspring carry these ‘Akuaba dolls’ in their clothes. Traditionally, these ‘Akuaba’ have a large, round, flat head that is reminiscent of its origin as a representation of the moon goddess, which is associated with fertility. Once the ‘Akuaba’ figure has fulfilled its purpose, the mother of the desired child places it on her domestic altar, where it is worshipped in a shrine, or she passes it on to the next generation.

A large carved mask with a white heart-shaped face and a decoration to the forehead. 764 grams, 43 cm



From Cameroon, Central Africa. From the collection of the late Professor R M Hicks, OBE. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

The Fang used masks in their secret societies. Fang masks, such as those worn by itinerant troubadours and for hunting and punishing sorcerers, are painted white with facial features outlined in black. Typical are large, elongated masks and featuring a face that was usually heart-shaped with a long, fine nose. Apparently, it has been linked with the dead and ancestors, since white is their color. The ngontang dance society also used white masks, sometimes in the form of a four-sided helmet-mask with bulging forehead and eyebrows in heart-shaped arcs.

Carved and decorated with lengths of fiber representing hair, small nose, carved teeth and scarification marks. 525 grams, 28.5 cm



From Western Ivory Coast and into Liberia, West Africa. From the private collection of the late Brian Morley; acquired in the 1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

A carved face mask, decorated with lengths of fibre representing hair, with small nose, carved teeth and scarification. 285 grams, face long: 20 cm



From Western Ivory Coast, West Africa. From the late Brian Morley collection, 1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Carved wooden mask, leaf-shaped in plan with reserved nose and mouth, angled elliptical slots to the eyes, remains of pigment. 802 grams, 45 cm



From Kenya, East Africa. From the private collection of Mr N.J., Leicester, UK; acquired circa 2010. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

D-shaped in section with impressed segmentation to the back, raised head. 144 grams, 25 cm



From an old Oxford, UK, collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

Carved wooden mask of oval profile with narrow slits for eyes, pursed lips, a ribbed forehead, bands of applied textile and cowrie shells; tall fabric-covered headdress with applied cowrie shells and other ornament. 2.1 kg, 72 cm long



From Ivory Coast, West Africa. Private Hampshire, UK, collection of tribal art; acquired in the 1960s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.

This is a Dan Dean Gle Mask. Its functions are to teach, entertain and nurture. One of the most spectacular dances of the Ivory Coast is the dance of the stilt walkers, it is a ritual dance that protects the village and is celebrated during ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, initiations, and other special occasions.

Comprising a cotton-reel-shaped body with stylised figural handles carved in the round, one male and one female, each facing the other with chin resting on the rim of the cup, arms embracing the bowl, legs spread around the foot, frieze of interlocking combed triangles around the stem. 940 grams, 18.5 cm wide



From Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. Acquired Nairobi, Kenya, 1997. Property of a Manchester, UK, collector. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.