Mask "gu" · Côte d'Ivoire, Guro · ID: 3043174
Yves Créhalet, Paris, France
Description
wood, brown patina, black paint, traces of kaolin, slightly dam. (nose), rep.. (breakage: right horn tip), base.
“Gu” is considered a female being. She is the wife of the mask-being “zamble” (and his brother"zauli"), and as such she must always follow her husband, i. e. appear after him in a masquerade. Despite her human like face, the “gu” mask being is considered a creature of the forest. It is quite possible that the addition of horns to the beautiful female face was intended to emphasize the non-village, forest-bound, and therefore “sacred” aspect of “gu”.
The object Mask “gu” with the object ID 3043174 was last part of the auction 88th Tribal Art Auction at March 10, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 212 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.
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
Fischer, Eberhard, Guro, Masks, Munich, Berlin, London, New York 2008, p. 221 ff.
Publications
AHDRC: 0150438