A Baule Mblo dance-mask, Ivory Coast, of hollow oval form, a pointed ornament beneath a protruding stylized mouth with carved rows of teeth, an elongated, slender nose with prominent nostrils, crescent eyes topped by arched striated eyebrows, hemispherical ears with an embedded triangle, scarification marks on the forehead, temples, cheeks, above the bridge of the nose and at the corners of the mouth, capped by striated, highly domed coiffure with an ornament on top, a carved zigzag line along the rim and the headdress, pierced through at the rim for attachment; brown surface, remnants of encrusted sacrification patina, traces of age and ritual use, incl. stand.

This excellent carved classical mask from the Baule people belongs to a special group known as portrait-masks and evokes the artistry of the Baule artists from the past. These portrait-masks are said to portray an honored person of the village or a personal ancestor who is celebrated during a ceremonial dance known as Mblo.

Lit.: Susan M. Vogel (Hrsg.): Baule: African Art Western Eyes; Bernard de Grunne: Über den Baule-Stil und seine Meister. In: Eberhard Fischer/Lorenz Homberger: Afrikanische Meister. Kunst der Elfenbeinküste, Zurüch 2014, p. 81-106.

sold

Height: 38,5 cm
Weight: 1,6 kg