Face mask ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Diomande · ID: 3031995

Description

wood, shiny black patina, the chin tapering to a point, accentuated by linear incised lines framing the face, narrow slit sickle-shaped eyes, lancet-shaped forehead tattoo with incised cross-hatches, old collection label on the back, slightly dam., paint rubbed off;
the Diomande are a small ethnical group of the Dan cluster, belonging to the Konyanke, with their settling area in northwestern Côte d’ Ivoire and adjacent areas of Guinea. Masks of the Diomande have been erroneously attributed to the Dan. They are characterized by their elongated faces and linear skin scarification marks which frame the whole face.

The object Face mask with the object ID 3031995 was last part of the auction 68th tribal art auction at March 3, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 328 achieved a sales 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.

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, München 2009, p. 182