African Pende "Sick" Mask 3

African masks art and of the Pende People

This wooden Sick mask from the Pende people measures 11.25 inches tall and 7.25 inches wide. Sick masks, a form of imitative magic, and are used by many African peoples. The mask's contorted face represents sickness. A sick person wears the mask for a time, and then takes it off, symbolically taking away the sickness. This imitation of taking away the sickness, it is hoped, will take away the real sickness.