Face mask "kpan" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3034592

Description

wood, rich honey brown patina, dark brown paint, kaolin, a beautiful modelled face with regular facial features, showing reduced clear forms, the three-parted chignon-coiffure in concentrical zigzag-lines separated from the facial plane, accentuated with kaolin just like the tiny mouth, the face entirely framed by a filigree zigzag-beard in openwork design (mostly broken), knob-like projection at the chin, slightly dam., hairline crack (forehead), missing parts (at the back of the rim), metal socle;
“kpan” masks are part of the “goli” masquerade, a day-long performance that involves the entire village population and which displays four pairs of masks. They appear two by two in a fixed order: first a pair of disc-faced masks (“kple kple”), next a pair of animal helmet masks (“goli glen”), third a pair of horned face masks (“kpan pre”), and finally two human-faced masks (“kpan”). This popular event takes place during an important event such as the death of a notable or a major celebration. The “kpan” are the last to take part in the show, their appearance remaining exceptional; the ornamentation and colours are equally attributed to the two sexes, nothing making it possible to distinguish them clearly and their role remaining ambivalent. Although we still have a great many examples of Baule art, including statuettes and masks, “kpan” masks of this type are extremely rare.

Comparing literature

Vogel, Susan Mullin, Baule - African Art - Western Eyes, New York 1997, p. 187