Face mask "tu bodu" (buffalo) · Côte d'Ivoire, Yaure · ID: 3048846
Ursula Nusser, Munich, 23 November 1995, Lot 105 (catalogue cover & invitation card)
Rainer Linnhoff, Pullach, Germany
Description
wood, dyed black, red and white colour accents,
Most Yaure masks show a human face combined with animal attributes. They belong to either the “je” or the “lo” masks, two mask groups which are difficult to differentiate. They are used to influence supernatural forces “yu” which cause harm to humans but also ensure their well-being.
As emblems of the “yu”, the masks are considered particularly dangerous and the sight of them is therefore strictly forbidden to women.
Especially a death that breaks up the social order requires the appearance of the masks. Through their dance they restore the disturbed social balance and accompany the dead into the world of the ancestors.
Comparing literature
Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 38
Publications
Schädler, K.-F., Afrikanische Kunst, Von der Frühzeit bis heute, München 1997, p. 117, ill. 62; Schädler, K.-F., Kunst der Elfenbeinküste, München 2001, p. 112 f., ill. 41AHDRC: 0190907