Anthropomorphic face mask "gu" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Guro · ID: 3038894

Description

wood, shiny brown patina, black paint, elaborate coiffure crowned by a banded shock of hair, narrow slit eyes with lowered lids, nose with overlong tip, small mouth with singular worked teeth, rich scarification marks, collection number handwritten in white paint on the backside “EDU/mk/31”, slightly dam. (nose tip), abrasion of paint, base;
“gu” is always carved according to the image of “a beautiful woman” - “uanya iri nya”. Although she is always danced by men. Together with “zauli” - a grotesque animal mask with long horns - and “zamble” whose face reminds of a leopard or a crocodile - “gu” forms one mask family. “Gu” is considered to be “zambles” wife. During the masquerade she appears after the two zoomorphic masks “zaule” and “zamble”, accompanied by flutes, moving slowly and charming, singing in honour of “zamble”.