Wooden Chihongo mask

Wooden Chihongo mask depicting a chief In wooden versions, the semi-circular section is cantilevered from the chin, jutting out horizontally. Despite its rigidity, this form indicates the beard of an elder. The curving headpiece, here made from feathers, imitates the curving form of the crowns Chokwe chiefs once wore. The masks’s eyes typically are conceived of as coffee bean forms set into deep eye sockets that connote age.