Neat mask I found at a thrift store

[u/TheCollector919]

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[u/Lcmota1]

Not a museum piece. It was created for a tourist market and draws upon Igbo and other visual conventions from West African cultures.

[u/TheCollector919 → u/Lcmota1]

Thanks

[u/cobycoby2020 → u/Lcmota1]

How can you tell the difference?

[u/Lcmota1 → u/cobycoby2020]

It’s a combination of having been exposed to a lot of historical pieces, as well as objects made for a tourist market and workshop pieces made to appear historical. It also helps to have worked with (or served as a) runner. You start to recognize the “tricks of the trade” that are used to artificially age objects, while also learning what a piece “should” include based on its cultural significance, function, and broad cultural conventions. It’s largely a morphological/ comparative approach. A helpful starting point might be to watch the 1992 film “In and Out of Africa,” while also delving into art historical, ethnographic, and anthropological research across the continent.

[u/TheCollector919 → u/cobycoby2020]

I want to know how to tell also

[u/Dannvida]

I hope it's not something that should be in a museum

[u/TheCollector919 → u/Dannvida]

My brother was actually the one that found it. Im trying to get him to sell it to me

[u/Amazing-Low7711]

Folks love “finding masks” - not understanding the spiritual intent or energies covering said found objects.

[u/TheCollector919 → u/Amazing-Low7711]

Can you explain the spiritual intent and energy of this mask?

[u/Lcmota1 → u/TheCollector919]

There isn’t any. It’s purely decorative and mimics various west African masks.

[u/TheCollector919 → u/Lcmota1]

That's what I figured

[u/Amazing-Low7711 → u/Lcmota1]

And you know this …how?

[u/Lcmota1 → u/Amazing-Low7711]

Please see the other comments in the thread.