Beautiful portrait mask "ndoma" · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3047077
Rolf Huisgen, Munich, Germany (1974)
Description
wood, inventory number “025-070”, missing part (insect caused damage)
These masks appear at dances (“mblo”) which serve for entertainment, but have also been observed at funeral ceremonies.
They can be recognized by their facial features, their hairstyles, and their scarifications as depictions of known men and women of the village and appear in frequent public performances over many decades.
“Ndoma” (=“double” or “namesake”) is consdidered the true double of the person it portrays, and it never performs unless accompanied in the dance by that person.
The dancers wearing these masks characterise, praise, caricature or criticise the persons represented, to the enjoyment of the audience.
The masks are often commissioned by men and are meant to celebrate a woman’s beauty or her special talent for dancing.
The object Beautiful portrait mask “ndoma” with the object ID 3047077 was part of the auction 95th Tribal Art Auction on October 24, 2020. The object with the lot number 79 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,800 with an asking 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.