Mask "gu" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3040177

Description

wood, polychrome paint, shiny patina, small oval face with pointed mouth, accentuated by red paint, provided with ram horn coiffure, rep. (breakage left horn tip), small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, base;
“gu” is always carved according to the image of “a beautiful woman” - “uanya iri nya”. Although she is always danced by men. Together with “zauli” - a grotesque animal mask with long horns - and “zamble” whose face reminds of a leopard or a crocodile - “gu” forms one mask family. “Gu” is considered to be “zambles” wife. During the masquerade she appears after the two zoomorphic masks “zaule” and “zamble”, accompanied by flutes, moving slowly and charming, singing in honour of “zamble”.

Comparing literature

Fischer, Eberhard & Lorenz Homberger, Die Kunst der Guro, Elfenbeinküste, Zürich 1985, p. 169, ill. 67