Masai Wedding Mask

Masai

Kenya

Masai living mainly in Kenya and Tanzania are nomadic herdsmen. For the Masai, wealth is attributed to the number of animals in ones herd. The cattle are considered as a gift from the gods. Masai have a culture based on age classes. Every seven years they move from one age class to another and finally as elders they hold considerable authority in the tribe. The Masai do not craft masks for rituals but they manufacture objects according to their needs like headrests, walking canes. Masai tribesmen have for long manufactured artifacts to sell or exchange with essential survival products. This mask is to honor the wedding ritual. The two small figures engraved in the top part are of opposite sexes in a kissing pose. Mask often referred to as the kissing mask.

Masks like these are not particularly used in ceremonies but are engraved to commemorate an important occasion or individual in the life of a Masai.

Wood

Height : 19″ (48.3cm)