Dan Mahou mask with bird's beak, Ivory Coast, near Liberia; called "Gegon", long beak carved in one piece, large nose with prominent nostrils, large triangular recessed eye holes, the cheek area bulging as well as the forehead area with ornamental pattern; dark brown patina, partly encrusted, signs of age and usage.

Masked dancers who perform with masks such as the present one wear a full body costume made of fabric and plant fibres, as well as a helmet-like crest embellished with a décor of cowries and feathers on their head. The mask figure known as ‘Gegon' dances for entertainment in the villages of the northern Dan or plays the role of a guardian in the initiation camps in the ‘bush’. The present ‘Gegon’ beak mask has remnants of encrusted sacrifications, in particular on the top and on the cheeks.

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 Himmelheber, Zürich, 1997.

sold

Height: 69 cm
Weight: 3,5 kg (incl. stand)