Anthropo-/zoomorphic face mask · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3042007
Description
wood, brown patina, flat oval face with prominent cheek scarifications, raised band framing the whole face, crowning horns (missing in parts), slightly dam., cracks, base;
most likely belonging to the type of portrait masks “ndoma”. The word also means “namesake”, as when two people have the same name. The portraits appear one by one, each escorted by its human “double” and each greeted as honoured guest. The dancers wear beautiful cloth and carry cow-tail fly whisks, fine scarves or fresh green leaves. Most “mblo” portrait masks can be recognized by their facial features, their hairstyles, and their scarifications as depictions of known men and women.
The object Anthropo-/zoomorphic face mask with the object ID 3042007 was last part of the auction 85th Tribal Art Auction at March 4, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 172.
You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Publications
AHDRC: 0139786