Mask ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Bété · ID: 3036137

Description

light brown wood, brown patina, nails, old label backside, pierced around the rim, crack, small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
the Bete are an ethnical group of around 800000 people, living in the southwestern part of the Ivory Coast. They are mostly known for a mask type with several protruding horns, rather resembling a knights helmet with ventail. This mask type was originally used by warriors. In later times the mask appeared at funeral ceremonies or in honour of important persons.

The object Mask with the object ID 3036137 was last part of the auction 76th tribal art auction at March 22, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 187.

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.