Zoomorphic mask "bonu amwin" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3032922

Description

wood, polychrome paint, helmet-shaped, carved with disc-shaped circular horns and a box-shaped protruding snout with visible teeth, pierced around the rim, min. dam., fissures, minor missing parts, traces of abrasion;
“bonu amwin” means “god of the woods”. This mask of high authority belongs to the “do” secret society. Women were rigorously excluded from all performances and were not permitted to see the mask. Should a woman see one even by accident, it was said, she is doomed to die.

Comparing literature

Barbier, Jean Paul (ed.), Art of Côte d' Ivoire, Catalogue Vol II, Genf 1993, p. 120 ff.