Anthropo/zoomorphic face mask ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Wé - Guéré · ID: 3043829

Description

wood, polychrome painted, fabric, animal skin, aluminiurm, brass (11 bells/pair of animal teeth),

The Ngere are also called the “Southern Wè”. They settle to the southeast of the Dan and to the west of the Bete. The ferocious aspect of their masks accounts for their identification as “war” masks but, according to some newer researchers, they are worn primarily during funerals and, in a “detective” capacity, to single out guilty persons.

The object Anthropo/zoomorphic face mask with the object ID 3043829 was last part of the auction 89th Tribal Art Auction at July 7, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 222 achieved a sales price of EUR 900.

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.