Ceramic Afro Mask

Submitted by Douglas Wood September 28th, 2010
Certifikitsch Winner

African masks are common, but African-American masks like the one above are a rarer item. It’s made out of plaster, then painted black with a very shiny glaze. It’s the exact size of a head so I’m guessing it’s a homemade mask that was made from a mold covering the subject’s face. In fact the eyes on the mask look like they’re closed and the expression is a sort of scowl, presumably caused by the subject having to sit while someone puts wet gauze or paper mache on his face. Found this at an estate sale in the valley where a widow was unloading her professional musician husband’s things, so this could be the face of a famous musician for all I know. The widow apparently didn’t want to keep it around– she charged me .50¬¢ for it.

One Response to “Ceramic Afro Mask”

  1. Allee Willis

    I know my Afro Am ceramic masks and I’ve never seen this one before. The brown shading in the hair is also not very common. The expression on the face looks much more like an African mask than American but anything is possible, including your theory.