Fang mask

This mask has a large headdress characteristic of the ethnic group, tinged with black, as are the prominent eyebrows forming two arches and extending the imposing nose. The prognathous mouth is tinged with red. The rest of the face is tinged with kaolin, which is found on much of the statuary of Gabon. The white of kaolin possesses among the Fang a strong symbolic in connection with what he calls « the other world », that of the spirits and deceased ancestors. This mask is distinguished from the corpus of masks ngil by its large volume and volume treatment of the mouth.