A rare and important Toma mask

of enormous proportions and dramatic sweeping volume, the massive gaping mouth baring rows of prominent teeth and leading to the crest with robust jutting horns framing a blunt nose, decorated with a set of carved horns on either side and at the top, the whole accentuated with bands of cowrie shells and a mirror at the center; '159-3' in pigment at the reverse; exceptionally fine aged and layered heavily encrusted patina.

Acquired from Stolper Galleries, Robert Stolper and Morton Lipkin, Amsterdam, July 7, 1966

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Museum, Selections from The William W. Brill Colllection of African Art, May 5 - August 31, 1969 (for additional venues see bibliography, Milwaukee 1969)
New York, The Center for African Art, Sets, Series and Ensembles in African Art, July 17 - October 27, 1985

Segy 1976: 9
Lehuard 1978: 18
Gillon 1979: 55
Preston 1985: 38, number 12

Dramatic in its appearance, this mask was used during ceremonies of the poro society of the Toma or Loma people in Liberia and Guinea. Little is known about the precise function of this type. In the literature (van Damme 1987: 9, figure 6; Leuzinger 1971: 106, figure 17) two closely related masks are referred to as okobuzogi. According to Gaisseau (1953: 96-97) the two components of the word 'oko' and 'zogi' translate as 'oko the magician' and refer to the mythical founder of the Toma town Touweleou. However, Siegmann (personnal communication 9/29/2006) emphasizes that this refers rather to the personal name of a particular mask found in this specific town than to the name of a class of masks. Instead he suggests that examples like the Brill mask may well be a regional version of the more common Toma mask form known as landai (also referred to as dandai).

Harley (1941: 27) reports about the ‘fundamental principles’ of the landai mask: ‘I know only that the masks were much heavier and not in the nature of portraits. They were more like demons. The chief of these was called Dandai (fig. 2). He is the great red-mouthed crocodile supposed to swallow the boys and leave the marks of his teeth on their bodies [in the form of scarification]. It was a mask about three feet long, carved out of a large log of very light wood. It appeared in public three times: (1) To call the boys to join the bush. (2) To announce their coming out of the bush. (3) To bring them back to town. He talked with a voice modified as though his mouth were full of water, or in a throaty rumble. The language was secret, or at least foreign so that he needed an interpreter. He spoke very fast and in short sentences, sometimes giving out a rumbling sound. Men brought him things to eat, usually cola and money which he snapped up with his great crocodile mouth. A bag hidden behind the jaws caught everything. Occasionally he pretended to eat a person, hiding him under his voluminous skirt, and dribbling red juices from his mouth, which was stained red with the juice of cola nuts.

 

He did not dance. His mask was too heavy. He usually walked slowly, with occasional spurts of running. He could see only through his mouth, as the mask was too large for the eyes to fit. He was usually surrounded by attendants who guided him around by secret signals. Occasionally he sat down to rest, the man (underneath) kneeling and resting the chin of the mask on the ground […]. He was superior to any other demon. He held a whip in the free right hand, the left being necessary to work the lower jaw. He impersonated the founder of the bush […]. He was supposed to swallow the boys and give them rebirth at the end of the Poro. The scarification marks [which the boys would receive during the process] were marks of his teeth.’

The Brill mask's complex iconography comprises powerful symbols of water and earth in the form of a massive gaping crocodile's mouth with prominent protruding teeth and robust jutting ram's horns on the forehead juxtaposed with symbols of power and transformation such as antelope horns, cowries and mirror shards. By combining these elements into a dynamic whole, the artist gave an abstract image of the Toma cosmos in its real and surreal appearances.