Anthropomorphic face mask "gu" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Guro · ID: 3040672

Description

wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, grooved coiffure with jagged hairline and asymmetrical crowning bun, min. dam., cracks, small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion;
“gu” is always carved “uanya iri nya”, i. e. according to the image of “a beautiful woman”. She is the wife of the mask-being “zamble” and as such she must always follow her husband, i.e. appear after him in a masquerade. “Gu” masks and their cult always belong to the same families that own “zamble”. A conical basket, attached to the mask is put over the dancers back of the head, thus helping the dancer to fix the mask in front of the face. The dancer wears a netlike costume, abundant grass fibre bunches, a womans cloth mainly in blue and an antelope pelt.

Comparing literature

Fischer, Eberhard & Lorenz Homberger, Die Kunst der Guro, Elfenbeinküste, Zürich 1985, p. 180, ill. 88