Attributed to Diteka (active early- to mid-20th century)
Makonde
Mozambique
Eastern and Southern Africa
Helmet Mask (Lipiko)
INV-2394
Attributed to Diteka (active early- to mid-20th century)
Makonde
Mozambique
Eastern and Southern AfricaEarly to mid-20th century
Helmet Mask (Lipiko)
Attributed to Diteka (active early- to mid-20th century) Makonde Mozambique Eastern and Southern Africa →makondeEastern and Southern AfricaArts of Africaafrican Artmasksarts of Africa
Date
Early to mid-20th century
Medium
Wood, pigment, and human hair
Dimensions
H.: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Through prior bequest of Florene May Schoenborn
Incarnating ancestral spirits, Makonde helmet masks appear in dances that celebrate the conclusion of initiation rituals for adolescent boys and girls. In this darkbrown male example, real human hair has been applied to the skull in irregular patterns that imitate a once-fashionable hairstyle. Its other lifelike characteristics include angular scarification marks and chipped teeth. The artist’s proper name— Diteka—is inscribed in Swahili on the mask’s cheek.
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