Mask "zakpai" · Côte d'Ivoire, Dan · ID: 3034473
Description
wood, blackish brown patina, beard made from plaited plant fibres, encrusted patina at the back, pierced around the rim, rep. (breakage at the back), slight traces of abrasion, fine cracks, metal socle;
masks like the present one are called runner masks, or “running juju”. The mask is completed by a head ornament with big leaves “bülä” and a rough costume with short fibre skirt. Their “weapon” is a short branch while their companion beats a slit gong. They only appeared in dry season and their sole task was to control the cooking fire places within the village.
The object Mask “zakpai” with the object ID 3034473 was last part of the auction 72nd tribal art auction at March 9, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 294.
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