Small mask "ma go" · Côte d'Ivoire, Dan · ID: 3041736
Walter Schmidt, Würzburg/Innsbruck, Germany/Austria
Description
wood, rich blackish brown patina, prominent horizontal deepened eye zone, vertical forehead ridge, diadem-like coiffure in raised herringbone-pattern, drilled holes around the rim, abrasion of paint (forehead, mouth), crack backside, base;
miniature masks have different functions: they represent the big, significant mask figures and were taken along to keep in touch with the helping spirit even when leaving home. At circumcision rites they served as a kind of witness and were said to clean the knife of every evil influence, i. e. somehow “sterilizing” the knife. Finally they were exhibited by secret societies to show their respect towards the mask spirits.
The object Small mask “ma go” with the object ID 3041736 was last part of the auction 86th Tribal Art Auction at May 27, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 21 achieved a sales price of EUR 800.
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.
Publications
AHDRC: 0141963