Pair of figures "lü mä" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Dan / Bété · ID: 3049238

Description

wood, rest.

Wooden figures of the Dan are called “lü mä”, “wooden person”. They usually represent women, although sometimes men are portrayed, and then frequently in male and female pairs.

Although the figures are stylized in the traditional manner, aspects of portraiture may exist in cicatrization patterns, coiffures, and other individual conditions.

The possession of figurines was considered a secular status symbol by the Dan, which only wealthy men or chiefs could afford.

Comparing literature

Johnson, Barbara C., Four Dan Sculptors, San Francisco 1987, p. 23 f.