A Spider mask from the Koumain people, Ivory Coast, collected in the region Tabou by Amadou Bouaflé, Abidjan, the legendary Art Dealer and Influencer of Susan Vogel for her Baule book "African Art Western Eyes", decorated with cowrie shells, animal horns, and rows of brass nails, partly covered with buish pigments.

The"Masque Kroumain araignée" (Kroumain Spider Mask) is a traditional mask associated with the Kroumen (or Kroumen/Krou) people of southwestern Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), particularly around the Tabou region, which borders Liberia.

The spider symbolism is common in West African cultures, often associated with wisdom, strategy, storytelling, and spiritual power. The spider figure can recall Anansi, the spider trickster from Akan folklore (Ghana and Ivory Coast).

Spider masks in West Africa are culturally rich and symbolically potent objects that appear across several ethnic groups, particularly among those in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Mali. Their meanings are often tied to wisdom, creation, ancestry, storytelling, and spiritual communication.

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Height: 28 cm / 40 cm incl. stand
Weight: 1,5 kg incl. stand