Mask with movable jaw ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Wé · ID: 3032928

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Description

wood, dark brown patina, kaolin, leather straps with remains of fur at the chin, projecting forms: tubular eyes, tusks, a round snout reminding of a baboon, expressive effect, slightly dam., minor missing parts, on base;
presumably belonging to a group of dance masks called “dhi gla”. The two slits above the actual eyes improved the dancers possiblity of seeing. In modern ethnology the Wobe and the Guere joined together form the Wé.

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Comparing literature

Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 95

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Publications

The de Havenon Collection, Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., 1971, ill. 86

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