Female singer mask "nineagla" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Wè-Wobé · ID: 3050909

Description

wood, colour pigments, brass, miniature glass beads, human hair, fibres, fabric,

Singer masks belong to the category of entertainment masks. They depict beautiful young girls (= “nineagla”), but are worn by boys and young men.

Himmelheber reports that “sometimes quite young boys go through the village with such a mask and only one companion and show their singing art here and there without any special effort”.

Littérature comparée

Lorenz Homberger (Hrsg.), Masken der Wè und Dan, Elfenbeinküste, Zürich 1997, p. 25, ill. 13