Helmet mask "gbetu" ·  Libéria, Gola · ID: 3038036

Description

wood, encrusted blackish brown patina, string of yellow glass beads, slightly dam., minor missing parts at the rim, cracks;
used by men societies for public displays on holidays, for weddings, funerals and other special events but also associated in some ways to the all powerful male “poro society”. The masks are accompanied by abundant raffia costumes, entirely veiling the dancers body.

Littérature comparée

Mato, Daniel & Charles Miller, Sande, Düsseldorf 1990, p. 104 Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk & Alexander Bortolot, Visions from the Forest, Seattle, London 2014, p. 27, ill. 1.10