Anthropomorphic "tu bodu" mask from the "lo" group · Côte d'Ivoire, Yaure · ID: 3041727
Walter Schmidt, Würzburg/Innsbruck, Germany/Austria (1964/65)
Description
wood, blackish brown patina, oval face with delicate facial features, framed by jagged beard in openwork design, coiffure in bow-shaped contours, crowned by the horns of a bush cow, slightly dam., old missing part (tip of left ear), abrasion of paint, above all nose and mouth strongly abraded, base;
the most well-known masks of the Yaure depict a human face with animalic endorsement. They belong to the “je” or “lo” masks, which could take influence on the supernatural forces called “ju”, who are either able to cause harm to the people or secure their well-being. Especially a case of death requests the performance of the “tu bodu” masks in order to reestablish the social balance and to accompany the deceased into the world of the hereafter.
The object Anthropomorphic “tu bodu” mask from the “lo” group with the object ID 3041727 was part of the auction 86th Tribal Art Auction on May 27, 2017. The object with the lot number 32 achieved a sales price of EUR 8,500 with an asking price of EUR 6,000.
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
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst in Deutschen Privatsammlungen, München 1973, p. 133, ill. 176; Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Afrikanische Kunst, München 1975, p. 101, Fig. 133
AHDRC: 0060587