Passport masks are usually representations of the human face, whereby the individual facial features of the owner are irrelevant. Sometimes these masks only reflect gender. In short, a mask is the spirit of an ancestor or, more often, ancestors.

The cult of Jieri obliges members of the Fang tribe to consult the oracle before every major event in the life of the community, such as sowing, hunting, changing residence, battle, war, etc. During this ceremony, preceded by prayer and feasting, the skull of an ancestor is rubbed with a special powdered substance, sometimes paint is used.

 Black masks appear when people are threatened by evil. They are supposed to ward off illness, misfortune, epidemics, crime, and witchcraft.

It probably depicts a hornbill, although I cannot completely rule out the possibility of it being a guinea fowl, for example. However, given how popular hornbills are in African tribal art, I would argue that this bird was the inspiration for the sculpture.

Boccio figures gain power and become effective only when they are charged with magical energy by a voodoo priest. In practice, this means painting the figure with a substance made according to a special recipe, which sometimes includes the blood of sacrificed animals.

The mask I offer is a dance mask and has no spiritual power. However, dance is an important part of all tribal celebrations held on the occasion of agricultural festivals, initiations, and funerals. Dancers, who can only be men, whirl around wearing masks and reed costumes.

I wondered for a long time what the bronze actually represented. I couldn't quite reconcile the headdress with my perception of a completely different region of the world. It was only recently that I found information that headdresses made of red feathers from the West African gray parrot were made in Benin.

 The leopard usually supported the seat of a stool or the bowl of a basin. In the case of this sculpture, it appears that it was created immediately as a representation of a leopard without any practical function. At least, there is no trace suggesting that it was ever otherwise.

Dogon sculptures, and the sculpture I am offering is a beautiful example of this, depict the human body in a simplified way. They are elongated with an emphasis on geometric forms. The figures are almost cubist. They have oval heads, square shoulders, and straight, long limbs that taper downwards. However, the stylization and simplification do not deprive the sculptures of their individual character.

In fact, it was only when looking at the oldest Beninese bronzes that I saw a certain similarity. The ornaments were somewhat similar. The roosters decorating the spoon handle could have come from Benin. The style of the animals depicted reminded me of Beninese art.

The headboard is also associated with the beliefs of many tribes that sleep and dream projections are the interference of ancestral spirits in life on earth. An appropriate headboard, in accordance with tribal canon, enables communication with ancestors. Headboards often take the form of totemic tribal sculptures to ensure the safety of such contact.

One of the most popular Senufo masks is Kpelie, which translates as "the face of a jumping performer." The prototype for Senufo masks is the face of a beautiful woman, because in the Senufo religion, the central figure is a female ancestral spirit, an ancient mother from whom the world began.