一个木制面具 - Bassa - Dan - 象牙海岸 (沒有保留價)

A Dan Bassa mask, Biankouma region, Ivory Coast. Incl. stand

This carved wooden mask exemplifies the aesthetic standards of a “passport” or ritual mask from the Dan-Bassa cultural group, native to the forest regions of Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. Its design combines the fluid elegance of Dan art with the angular geometry characteristic of Bassa sculptors. The upper structure at the top of the skull is rendered with significant volume. It features an elaborate traditional hairstyle, structured by four or five tall, parallel, longitudinal coils. The braided details of each coil are finely textured with small, tightly spaced transverse incisions simulating the tight braiding of strands of hair, ending in small beaded protrusions along the edge of the forehead. The elongated face has an inverted oval shape that tapers downward, ending in a long, pointed chin projecting forward. The closed eyes are represented by large, drooping, smooth, almond-shaped eyelids, rendered with regular incisions in relief that accentuate an expression of sleep or spiritual introspection. A long, straight nose cuts vertically across the face. The bridge of the nose is adorned with fine geometric incisions in a grid or striated pattern, a recurring stylistic feature on Gela or Geh-Naw Bassa masks. The mouth is slightly ajar, framed by thick, horizontal lips carved in relief that reveal a hollowed-out interior. The stylized ears, on either side of the head, stand out in relief, carved in a simple, curved manner. The entire object is covered with a dark brown, almost black patina, whose satiny and glossy appearance in places attests to the age of the wood and its ritual use.

"The Bassa people inhabit the central coastal region of Liberia. They have several secret societies for both males and females, and some societies have socially important masking functions. The geh-naw mask is used by the Nor Society. It is fixed to a wicker framework and worn on the forehead over a cloth and raffia costume during adult initiation ceremonies for boys. The dancer glides around to the beat of drums, seeing only through holes in the basketry sustaining the mask." Source: Second Face Museum of Cultural Masks

Dan masks have been documented as the embodiment of at least a dozen artistic personalities. Among these are Deangle, who ventures into the village from the initiation camps to ask women for food; Tankagle and Bagle, who entertain through a range of aesthetically pleasing dances, skits, and mimes; Gunyege, whose mask is worn by a community's champion foot racers in competitions; and Bugle, who historically leads men into battle.

Once they are divorced from their performance contexts, however, mask forms are difficult to identify. Performances of Bete and Wee masks may span the careers of many generations of wearers, contributing to the increasingly sacred status of these objects. A masquerade's vitality may also be transferred from one mask form to another. Over time, any respected Dan mask may eventually be elevated to the category gunagle, the mask that represents a village quarter, or gle wa, a judicial mask.” Lit: The Arts of the Dan in the West Africa, Eberhard Fischer and Hans Himmelheber,1984

Literature (Selection)
Eberhard Fischer, Dan: People and Masks in the Ivory Coast, Zurich 1976.
Daniel B. Reed, Dan Ge Performance: Masks and Music in Contemporary Ivory Coast, Bloomington 2003.
Anita J. Glaze, Art and Death in a Senufo Village, Bloomington 1981.
Herbert M. Cole, Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa, Washington D.C. 1989.
Susan M. Vogel, Africa Explores: 20th Century African Art, New York 1991.
Jacques Kerchache, Jean-Louis Paudrat, and Lucien Stéphan, African Art, Paris 1988.

Some of the information is generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history.

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