African Crafts Market

African Tikar masks

Size: 40cm (H) - Mask above

African art and masks of the Tikar.

This African mask from the Tikar people of Cameroon is hand carved of wood, and features finely detailed brass embellishment to the eyes and forehead. Tikar masks, with their ritual scarification's and formalized hair styles, are some of the most desirable in African art. Masks of this type are used during agricultural festivities, such as during harvest ceremonies. The basic concept of these rituals was the belief that the soil is sacred, because it belonged to the ancestors. Therefore, once the harvest is good, there is a great reason to celebrate and be grateful to them.

Made of a light wood, this male mask surprises with it's unusually bulging cheek-bones and expressive mouth. Elegantly carved with scarification on the cheeks in the same pattern. The upper eyelids and the center of the forehead are inlaid with brass.

To view our other mask or a different Tikar mask style please return to our African mask Gallery or view the masks below.

All sizes listed are approximate. The Tikar mask you purchase and receive may differ just slightly in size, look, and/or color from the Tikar mask shown in the picture because each mask is hand carved and hand painted by individual artists. No two masks are exactly the same.

Below we have a selection of other Tikar masks, carved in the same style as above but with different colours, patterns and colours on the mask. Click on the image for a larger view.