Local name: nyangbai or landai (Toma language)

Origin: Loma/Toma (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia)

Dating: second half of the 20^th century

Dimensions: height 56 cm, width 24.5 cm, depth 8.0 cm

Material: wood

Techniques: carving

Acquired by: Jacek Łapott, art and craft shop, Grand Bassam (Ivory Coast), 2001

Description:

The Toma is one of the numerous Mande populations that migrated from the northern savannah region to the forested belt of West Africa during the turbulent times of the decline of the Malian Empire (1230-1670) [Picton 1999: 362]. They call themselves Loma, the ethnonym Toma was given to them by the French in colonial times. In the 19th century, the basis of livelihood was agriculture and also slave trade. Since the colonial times, rice and palm oil have been the main export products [Béavogui Facinet, 1991]. Today, the majority of the Toma (150,000) inhabit the mountainous forested region of northern Liberia.

In the past, their most notable sculptural forms were long wooden masks that combined human and animal features. The masks were put on the head horizontally. Only men can wear these masks. They all functioned in the men’s society commonly known as the Poro. This association regulated issues related to land use and trade, organized agricultural work, initiations and marriages. The nyangbai mask represents the wife of the great spirit of the forest and it is worn directly on the dancer’s face. In its upper part  usually we can see simplified shapes of horns (bovine or antelope) and a rounded forehead over a short, abstractly shaped nose and large, flat areas of the face [Picton 1999: 362]. The presented mask on the reverse has clearly traces of use, polished places where the forehead and nose of the dancer touched the mask.

Tom’s largest mask was 1.82m tall, had crocodile teeth extending from the front towards the dancer, an exaggerated nose and forehead, and a huge bunch of bird of prey feathers on the back. For Toma and their neighbors, the Bandi, this terrifying image represented the main spirit of the forest (Dandai or Landa, Landai), which showed the power of the Poro. One of the „tasks” of the mask was to symbolically devour boys at initiation to give them rebirth as men. These huge masks are rarely found in collections [Picton 1999: 362].

Bibliography:

Béavogui Facinet, 1991, Contribution à l’histoire des Loma de la Guinée forestière, de la fin du XIXe siècle à 1945, PhD thesis [https://www.theses.fr/1991PA070030].

Delange Jacqueline, 1967, Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire, Paris: Éditions Gallimard.

Picton John, 1999, West Africa and the Guinea Coast, in: Phillips Tom (ed.) – Africa. The art of a continent, Munich-Berlin-London-New York: Prestel, pp. 327-477.

Leuzinger Elsy, 1961, Africa Nera, Milano: Il Saggiatore.

Trojan Alina, 1973, Sztuka Czarnej Afryki, Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna

Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".