Yoruba Female Body Mask, Based

A body in carved wood, its form reduced to what mattered most to the carver.

This female body mask is Yoruba, from Nigeria in West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is pigment on carved wood. Masquerade holds a central place in Yoruba ceremonial life, and images of women are widely understood to honor the power of mothers. The torso is square-shouldered and frontal, with rounded breasts and belly and short, blunt thighs. A rough, pale coating covers the surface, with darker wood showing through. Small holes line the top edge. Twenty-two inches high.

It is a direct image, and it should be met directly.