Description
DAN country, Ivory Coast. Royal "go ge" mask with its headdress. Wood with a very beautiful patina of use, pigments and fibers. Height of the mask : 23 cm - Depth with the headdress : 41 cm Patinated metal base. History : - Former collection Max Rouayroux (Nice) ; - Sale Tajan, Paris, December 6, 1995, lot n° 42 ; - Sale Sotheby's, Paris, December 11, 2013, lot n° 40 ; - French private collection. Exhibition / Publication : - " La rencontre du ciel et de la terre " Musée de la Castre, Cannes 1990 ; - Reproduced in the catalogue of this same exhibition under the n° 30 An old and beautiful mask in the classical style with the rare characteristic of having kept its imposing hairpiece made of plant fibers. Note the delicacy of the sculpture that reinforces the power of the idealized features of the face. According to the classical typology of masks from the Dan country, the circular eyes would be characteristic of the zakpei ge masks (which would be associated with the maintenance of a social order intended to prevent fires) and of the gunye ge masks known as "racing". If the majority of Dan masks were adorned with fibre braids, the exceptional hairstyle still worn by this one allows it to be compared to the one kept in the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva (Inv. 1003.14), which could be considered as belonging to an even rarer and more important category. Describing the Barbier-Mueller mask in the "Arts de la Côte d'ivoire" catalogue (Barbier-Mueller Museum, 1993, Vol.), Marie_x0002_Noël Verger-Fèvre considers that the exceptional headdress that would be that of ancient warriors could be the element characterizing the "King's Mask" go ge that would only appear in exceptional circumstances such as the death of a chief, war, court decisions, etc.. A large horizontal line lighter at the level of the eyes indicates the location of an old red cloth band that must have covered it originally. Expert : AA OARTS - Mrs Marie-Christine DAFFOS & Mr Jean-Luc ESTOURNEL - [email protected] - 06 09 22 55 13
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DAN country, Ivory Coast. Royal "go ge" mask with its headdress. Wood with a very beautiful patina of use, pigments and fibers. Height of the mask : 23 cm - Depth with the headdress : 41 cm Patinated metal base. History : - Former collection Max Rouayroux (Nice) ; - Sale Tajan, Paris, December 6, 1995, lot n° 42 ; - Sale Sotheby's, Paris, December 11, 2013, lot n° 40 ; - French private collection. Exhibition / Publication : - " La rencontre du ciel et de la terre " Musée de la Castre, Cannes 1990 ; - Reproduced in the catalogue of this same exhibition under the n° 30 An old and beautiful mask in the classical style with the rare characteristic of having kept its imposing hairpiece made of plant fibers. Note the delicacy of the sculpture that reinforces the power of the idealized features of the face. According to the classical typology of masks from the Dan country, the circular eyes would be characteristic of the zakpei ge masks (which would be associated with the maintenance of a social order intended to prevent fires) and of the gunye ge masks known as "racing". If the majority of Dan masks were adorned with fibre braids, the exceptional hairstyle still worn by this one allows it to be compared to the one kept in the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva (Inv. 1003.14), which could be considered as belonging to an even rarer and more important category. Describing the Barbier-Mueller mask in the "Arts de la Côte d'ivoire" catalogue (Barbier-Mueller Museum, 1993, Vol.), Marie_x0002_Noël Verger-Fèvre considers that the exceptional headdress that would be that of ancient warriors could be the element characterizing the "King's Mask" go ge that would only appear in exceptional circumstances such as the death of a chief, war, court decisions, etc.. A large horizontal line lighter at the level of the eyes indicates the location of an old red cloth band that must have covered it originally. Expert : AA OARTS - Mrs Marie-Christine DAFFOS & Mr Jean-Luc ESTOURNEL - [email protected] - 06 09 22 55 13
