Anthropomorphic face mask "deangle" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Dan · ID: 3049693

Description

wood, pigments, wax or oil treated surface, remains of old collection labels, base

“Deangle” literally means a “joking and smiling” mask character. The name implies that a friendly and beautiful appearance is described, destined to entertain the people.

The “dean” mask characters belong to the circumcision camps (“mbon”) of young boys and girls, which are always situated in the holy forest nearby the village. They act as mediator between camp and village and they are responsible for food and protection of the initiates.

The object Anthropomorphic face mask “deangle” with the object ID 3049693 was last part of the auction Sale 100 at April 15, 2023 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 44 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.

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.

Comparing literature

Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zürich 1976, p. 41 f.