Masque "gu" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Guro · ID: 3043174

Description

wood, brown patina, black paint, traces of kaolin, slightly dam. (nose), rep.. (breakage: right horn tip), base.
“Gu” is considered a female being. She is the wife of the mask-being “zamble” (and his brother"zauli"), and as such she must always follow her husband, i. e. appear after him in a masquerade. Despite her human like face, the “gu” mask being is considered a creature of the forest. It is quite possible that the addition of horns to the beautiful female face was intended to emphasize the non-village, forest-bound, and therefore “sacred” aspect of “gu”.

Littérature comparée

Fischer, Eberhard, Guro, Masks, Munich, Berlin, London, New York 2008, p. 221 ff.

Publications

AHDRC: 0150438