Mask with horns ·  Liberia, Grebo · ID: 3032285

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, abundant grass fibre beard, raised geometrical facial features, drilled holes below the eyes, slightly dam., cracks, paint rubbed off in some places;
masks of the Grebo represent spirits of the invisible world living in the forest. The masks were carved by initiates of the highest rank and were exclusively used for rites and celebrations in context of initiation. There are hardly known any figural works of the Grebo and even their masks are rather rare to be found !

The object Mask with horns with the object ID 3032285 was last part of the auction 68th tribal art auction at March 3, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 146 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,500.

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

Kerchache, Jacques, Paudrat, Jean-Louis u.a., Die Kunst des Schwarzen Afrika, Freiburg, Basel, Wien 1988, p. 535