Patine de fumée
In English use: Soot-encrusted smoke patina
A passive smoke patina — decades over a household hearth leave a deep black, anti-insect, tarry surface.
A passive (not ritually applied) patina. Many masks, ancestor figures, and ritual implements were traditionally stored in the rafters or gables of huts, directly above the central hearth where cooking and heating took place.
Decades of soot, ash, and tarry condensate from burning wood settle on the objects. The result: a deep-black, extremely durable, matte to silk-matte surface that simultaneously impregnates the wood and protects it against xylophages (wood-eating insects). The smell of well-aged smoke is itself a diagnostic — a sharp, acrid burnt-green-wood note today usually signals artificial fire-ageing, i.e. a forgery. The same note, on a Nepali mask, indicates authenticity (Himalayan hearth storage was still common until recently).