Mask "bonu amwin" · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3035429
Swiss Private Collection
Description
wood, polychrome paint, helmet-shaped, carved with disc-shaped circular horns and a box-shaped protruding snout with visible teeth, pierced around the rim, min. dam., cracks, traces of insect caused damage and abrasion;
“bonu amwin” means “god of the woods”. This mask of high authority belongs to the “do” secret society. Women were rigorously excluded from all performances and were not permitted to see the mask. Should a woman see one even by accident, it was said, she is doomed to die.
The object Mask “bonu amwin” with the object ID 3035429 was last part of the auction 74th tribal art auction at September 7, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 64 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,250.
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Comparing literature
Barbier, Jean Paul (ed.), Art of Côte d' Ivoire, Vol II, Genève 1993, p. 120 ff.