Maske ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Bété · ID: 3040094

Description

wood, shiny brown patina, narrow slit eyes with tear sacs, “lattice-like” arranged teeth, handwritten collection number “24” at the back, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion;
the most famous Bete masks are those which look like a medieval helmet, with the tusks crossing the face from one side to the other and thus forming a sort of visor (copied from the Ngere masks). Lesser used are masks which combine stylistic elements of the Dan, like the forehead ridge, or metal teeth with characteristics of the other surrounding ethnical groups, as is the case with present mask.

The object Maske with the object ID 3040094 was part of the auction 82nd Tribal Art Auction on February 27, 2016. The object with the lot number 316 achieved a sales price of EUR 5,000 with an asking 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

Celenko, Theodore, A treasury of African Art from the Harrison Eiteljorg Collection, Bloomington 1983, p. 76