Female singer mask "nineagla" · Côte d'Ivoire, Wè - Wobé · ID: 3048741
sold
EUR 1,800
Provenance
Toni Dähler, Basel, SwitzerlandH.K. Galerie, St. Gallen, Switzerland (Helene Knill and Hans Koller)
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 11 September 2004, Lot 923
Werner Zintl, Worms, Germany
Size
H: 34 cm
H: 13.4 inch
Description
wood, kaolin, pigments, plant fibre, fabric, human hair, metal, cartridge cases,
Singer masks belong to the category of entertainment masks. They depict beautiful young girls (= “nineagla”), but are worn by boys and young men.
Himmelheber reports that “sometimes quite young boys go through the village with such a mask and only one companion and show their singing art here and there without any special effort”.
Comparing literature
Lorenz Homberger (Hrsg.), Masken der Wè und Dan, Elfenbeinküste, Zürich 1997, p. 25, ill. 13