An ancient and very rare Janus helmet mask. The Mambila produced a large number of helm masks, often very expressive when they are old, but essentially zoomorphic masks with horns and very few authentic anthropomorphic face masks existed or have come down to us, and even fewer when it comes to a Janus mask. However, we can consider another authentic, early Mambila Janus mask, in a different style to the one presented here, and formerly from the American dealer J.J.Klejman (see Sotheby's NY sale of November 21, 2022 lot 44). Unfortunately, very little is known about the meaning and use of these two extremely rare masks, which make up a very narrow corpus within the Mambila culture, which has a very ancient and prolific tradition of sculpture dedicated to ancestor worship, agricultural cycles and divination. It is likely that this mask is concerned with justice or the power of perception (or divination), thanks to the clairvoyance that such sculpture enables us to see in two directions; the oldest masks in Africa always carry narrative imagery. The Janus mask from the former Werner Muenstenberger collection, brilliantly acquired by Dieter Scharf in 1996, shows all the signs of a truly ancient work bearing the stigmata of a mask worn many times, so the quality of the carving and the striking presence of its two faces, make this work undoubtedly a truly remarkable object of Mambila artistic heritage. Mambila, Nigeria 19th or early 20th century Wood, pigments, small visible age-related cracks and accidents, very fine age-related oxidation of the wood, superb old patina. Length: 42 cm Provenance : Dr. Werner Muensterberger Collection, New York Collection Hilde and Dieter Scharf, Hamburg, acquired in 1996 Publications and exhibitions: Sotheby's, New York, May 8, 1996, no. 107 Bacquart, L'Art tribal d'Afrique Noire, 1998, p. 105, no. 7 Heymer and Thompson, Sehen lernen. Eine Sammlung afrikanischer Figuren, 1999, pp. 68-69, n° 23 Rochard, Figuren Afrikas. Meisterwerke einer Privatsammlung, 2002, pp. 76-77, n° 25, Ingelheim, Altes Rathaus, April 28 - July 7, 2002