Portrait mask "ndoma" of the "mblo" group ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baoulé · ID: 3039678

Description

wood, encrusted blackish brown patina, traces of white pigment, narrow elongated face with elaborate high towering coiffure, accurately cut regular facial features: beautifully curved eyebrows, sickle-shaped pierced eyes, delicate nose, small oval mouth with tiny teeth, scarification marks “ngole” at the corners of the eyes, projecting flat rim framing the whole face, within the lower half fomed as jagged beard, slightly dam. (nose, mouth, jags), minor missing parts backside along rim;
portrait masks are called “ndoma” or “double”. The word also means “namesake”, as when two people have the same name. The portraits appear one by one, each escorted by its human “double” and each greeted as honoured guest. The dancers wear beautiful cloth and carry cow-tail fly whisks, fine scarves or fresh green leaves. Most “mblo” portrait masks can be recognized by their facial features, their hairstyles, and their scarifications as depictions of known men and women.

Expertise

Jean Roudillon, 23 February 2015, Paris

Littérature comparée

Vogel, Susan Mullin, Baule, African Art - Western Eyes, New York 1997, p. 157