Mangbetu Wood Passport Mask

Broad shield-shaped face is divided by a tall ridge and four leaf-shaped eyes.

This Mangbetu passport mask of wood is Mangbetu, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. The name passport mask is a modern trade term for small masks of this scale, and it does not describe a function recorded by the makers themselves. Flat, heart-shaped mask with a raised vertical center rib splitting the surface in two. On each side, two almond shapes are cut into the wood with pale-rimmed edges. The surface is dark brown and dusty, with whitish traces in the cuts.

Symmetry taken so seriously it has a spine.