A Dan Passeport mask, Côte d’Ivoire, Man region. incl stand. This mask originates from the Dan communities around Man, a hilly, forested region in western Côte d’Ivoire, near the border with Liberia. The area is part of a dense network of Dan-speaking settlements, historically organized around lineage and secret society structures. This small, portable mask belongs to the Dan “Passeport” or Gla type, used not for performance but as a symbolic object of social and personal recognition. In the Man region, such tiny masks functioned as portable emblems of identity, lineage affiliation, or inter-community authorization, often carried by individuals during travel, visits, or ritual transactions. It belongs to the Dan “Passeport” or Gla type, used not for performance but as a symbolic object of social and personal recognition. In the Man region, such tiny masks functioned as portable emblems of identity, lineage affiliation, or inter-community authorization, often carried by individuals during travel, visits, or ritual transactions. MAZ09138