Female singer mask "nineagla" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Wé - Guéré / Wobé · ID: 3043269

Description

wood, brown patina, black and white paint, red pigment, metal tags, plant fibre bulge, brass bells, slightly dam., minor missing parts, abrasion of paint (backside), base.
In addition to a large group of masks with social tasks (guardian masks “tegla” and the so-called “big masks”), there are a variety of entertainment masks from the Wé. All female, and a proportion of male masks, belong to this category. The female masks “nineagla” sing and the male masks “begla”, dance. The “nineagla” are beautiful young girls, but are danced by boys and young men, and when the mask sings, the wearer lifts
the mask from the inside so that it sits flat on the head. He hides his face behind strips of cloth that otherwise hang on both sides of the mask. The “nineagla” always have typical women’s tattoos on the cheeks and are framed by a wreath of bells. They belong to the lowest level of the masks and appear especially after dark.

Comparing literature

Lorenz Homberger (Hrsg.), Masken der Wè und Dan, Elfenbeinküste, Zürich 1997, p. 14 ff.

Publications

AHDRC: 0150482