Anthropomorphic face mask "kpan" · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3046186
Didier Claes, Brussels, Belgium
Description
wood, pigments,
“Kpan” masks are part of the “goli” masquerade, a day-long spectacle that normally involves the whole village. “Goli” can be performed both as an entertainment and for the funerals of important men.
Four pairs of masks appear, two by two, in a fixed order: first a pair of disc-faced masks “kple kple”, next a pair of animal helmet masks “goli glen”, third a pair of horned face masks “kpan pre”, and finally two human-faced masks with crested hairdos “kpan”.
Only a few, important “goli” dances include the final pair, “kpan”, which appears holding fly whisks as symbols of elderhood. The “kpan” dancers only appear at dusk and are hidden behind cloths to increase the tension.
The object Anthropomorphic face mask “kpan” with the object ID 3046186 was last part of the auction Voyage Tribal Art - Live Online Auction at May 23, 2020 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 126.
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
Didier Claes, "Contact", VIII, Brussels 2018