Face mask ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Bété · ID: 3030418

Description

wood, black patina, kaolin, raised vertical forehead ridge, curved eyebrows in herringbone pattern carved in flat relief, metal teeth, drilled holes around the rim, slightly dam., minor missing parts (nose, mouth, backside), paint rubbed off;
the most famous Bete masks are those which look like a medieval helmet, with the tusks crossing the face from one side to the other and thus forming a sort of visor (copied from the Ngere masks). Lesser used are masks which combine stylistic elements of the Dan, like the forehead ridge, or metal teeth with characteristics of the other surrounding ethnical groups, as is the case with present mask.

The object Face mask with the object ID 3030418 was last part of the auction 68th tribal art auction at March 3, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 325.

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.