Mask ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Bété · ID: 3038526

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, metal tags, narrow slit eyes with tear sacs, lattice-like teeth, min. dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, traces of abrasion, base;
the most famous Bete masks are those which look like a medieval helmet, with the tusks crossing the face from one side to the other and thus forming a sort of visor (copied from the Ngere masks). Lesser used are masks which combine stylistic elements of the Dan, like the forehead ridge, or metal teeth with characteristics of the other surrounding ethnical groups, as is the case with present mask.

The object Mask with the object ID 3038526 was last part of the auction 80th Tribal Art Auction at June 27, 2015 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 266.

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.

Comparing literature

Celenko, Theodore, A treasury of African Art from the Harrison Eiteljorg Collection, Bloomington 1983, p. 76