Description
Mask, Baule, Ivory Coast Wood with brown patina and wear, milking nails, copper plates H. 35 cm Baule mask, Ivory Coast H. 13 ¾ in Provenance: - Private collection, acquired before 1975 - Private collection Publication: - David Adjaye, Geo-Graphics, A map of art practices in Africa, past and present, Center for Fine Arts, Brussels, 2010, fig. 168 Exhibition: - Geo-graphics: a map of art practices in Africa, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, The Baule portrait masks show the same qualities of execution and rendering of detail that characterise the statuary art of this ethnic group. They represent dignitaries or important people and dance at the end of profane shows and mblo entertainments, considered by the Baule as "the great art". The sculptor has imagined here a headdress in the shape of buffalo horns, surmounting a face with classical and regular features. The refined treatment of the headband, the ornamentation of milking nails and copper plates on the eyelids are all indications of the major social role of the individual represented.
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Mask, Baule, Ivory Coast Wood with brown patina and wear, milking nails, copper plates H. 35 cm Baule mask, Ivory Coast H. 13 ¾ in Provenance: - Private collection, acquired before 1975 - Private collection Publication: - David Adjaye, Geo-Graphics, A map of art practices in Africa, past and present, Center for Fine Arts, Brussels, 2010, fig. 168 Exhibition: - Geo-graphics: a map of art practices in Africa, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, The Baule portrait masks show the same qualities of execution and rendering of detail that characterise the statuary art of this ethnic group. They represent dignitaries or important people and dance at the end of profane shows and mblo entertainments, considered by the Baule as "the great art". The sculptor has imagined here a headdress in the shape of buffalo horns, surmounting a face with classical and regular features. The refined treatment of the headband, the ornamentation of milking nails and copper plates on the eyelids are all indications of the major social role of the individual represented.
