Toma Mask, Liberia

Stolper Galleries, Robert Stolper and Morton Lipkin, Amsterdam
William W. Brill, New York, acquired from the above on July 7, 1966
Sotheby's New York, The William W. Brill Collection of African Art, November 17, 2006, lot 12
Acquired by the present owner at the above auction

Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Selections from The William W. Brill Colllection of African Art, May 5 - August 31, 1969 
St. Paul Art Center, St. Paul (additional venue), October 23 - December 21, 1969
Tweed Art Gallery, University of Minnesota, Duluth (additional venue), January 14 - February 22, 1970
The Center for African Art, New York, Sets, Series and Ensembles in African Art, July 17 - October 27, 1985

Ladislas Segy, Masks of Black Africa, New York, 1976, p. 9
Raoul Lehuard, "La Collection William Brill," Arts d'Afrique Noir, no. 26, Été 1978, p. 18
Werner Gillon, Collecting African Art, London, 1979, p. 55
George Preston, Sets, Series and Ensembles in African Art, New York, 1985, p. 38, no. 12
Heinrich Schweizer, "Cubism of thought", Sotheby's Preview, vol. 19, issue 6, November 2006, p. 34

Good condition overall; indigenous repairs to the front and top horns with metal staples. Some wear at the back of the mask from age and use within the culture. Surface very fragile; horizontal band of cowrie shells and resin above nose stabilized and partially filled; aged light brown patina with ritual encrustation.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Masks like the Brill mask were used during ceremonies of the poro society of the Toma or Loma people in Liberia and Guinea. According to Siegmann (personnal communication September 29, 2006) they seem to be a regional version of the more common Toma mask form known as landai (also referred to as dandai).

Harley (1941: 27) reports about the "fundamental principles" of these masks: "I know only that the masks were much heavier and not in the nature of portraits. They were more like demons [, a...] great red-mouthed crocodile supposed to swallow the boys and leave the marks of his teeth on their bodies [in the form of scarification...]. He talked with a voice modified as though his mouth were full of water, or in a throaty rumble. The language was secret, or at least foreign so that he needed an interpreter. He spoke very fast and in short sentences, sometimes giving out a rumbling sound. Men brought him things to eat, usually cola and money which he snapped up with his great crocodile mouth. A bag hidden behind the jaws caught everything. Occasionally he pretended to eat a person, hiding him under his voluminous skirt, and dribbling red juices from his mouth, which was stained red with the juice of cola nuts. [...] He was superior to any other demon. He held a whip in the free right hand, the left being necessary to work the lower jaw. He impersonated the founder of the bush [...]. He was supposed to swallow the boys and give them rebirth at the end of the Poro. The scarification marks [which the boys would receive during the process] were marks of his teeth."

The Brill mask's complex iconography comprises powerful symbols of water and earth in the form of a massive gaping crocodile's mouth with prominent protruding teeth and robust jutting ram's horns on the forehead juxtaposed with symbols of power and transformation such as antelope horns, cowries and mirror shards. By combining these elements into a dynamic whole, the artist gave an abstract image of the Toma cosmos in its real and surreal appearances.