A rare Dan mask, Ivory Coast/Liberia, of hollowed oval form, a remarkable protruding chin beneath a diamond shaped mouth showing animal teeth, a mustache of an animal fur, a triangular nose framed by pierced narrow eyes with aluminium boarders, arched brows, a vertical ridge in the center of the forehead, atop of the head an iron nail, the face is decorated with almost symmetrical arranged scarification marks, the mask pierced through for attachment; brown to blackened patina, traces of age and ritual use.

Lit.: Eberhard Fischer and Hans Himmelheber: The Arts of the Dan in West Africa, Museum Rietberg, Zürich, 1984; Eberhard Fischer: Dan Artists: The Sculptors Tame, Si, Tompieme and Sõn- Their Personalities and Work, Zurich, 2014; Lorenz Homberger (Hrsg.): Masken der Wè und Dan Elfenbeinküste. Die Sammlung des Schweizer Malers Charles Hug, Paris 1928-31 mit einem Beitrag zum Maskenwesen der Wè von Hans Himmelhebe, Zürich, 1997.

sold

Height: 23 cm
Weight: 220 g