Mask "gu" with animal horns
Côte d'Ivoire, Guro
sold
EUR 4,200
Provenance
American Private Collection (coll. ca. 1960-1990)
Family-owned since then
Collected by an American diplomat and ambassador in the 1960-1990s, when he provided charitable medical aid throughout the African continent.
Size
H: 34 cm
H: 13.4 inch
Description
wood, pigment, collection no. “48277”, 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”.