African Crafts Market

African Maasai Mare masks - Kenya

Size: 20cm (H) - Mask above

A beautiful handcrafted African warrior mask that is found in Kenya in central Africa. Masks were traditionally used by the African tribal people within a tribe as a means to scare their opponents and to identify themselves within a tribe. These days these masks have become popular pieces of art to have hanging on walls in homes around the world. These masks bring a little bit of African into the house.

This wooden warrior mask originates from Kenya and has been hand carved by the Maasai (Masai) tribesmen. The Maasai (Masai) tribe is a group of people who are known for their wonderful bright red and green artwork. This warrior mask is typical of the colors used in the Maasai (Masai) daily life as their clothes and face painting is mainly in this color. The Maasai (Masai) tribe is a well known tribe from Kenya who are very dark skinned and have chiseled bodies.

The Maasai (Masai) Mare warriors are known for their weird trance like ritual that they go through before each battle as they jump on the spot and chant to get them into this trance.

This African masks has two tribesmen facing each other with traditional patterns on the face. Each mask is an "original" work of art, individually hand carved, no two are exactly alike which adds to the value of each piece. The original nature of tribal art will be reflected by variances from the mask as shown, each piece of a specific style is similar, but not identical.

View more African mask in our mask gallery and also search by African tribe or read about African tribes people and cultures.

Below we have a selection of African Kenya masks carved in the same style but with different colours, shapes and patterns. Click on the image for a larger view.