A "fetish gold" mask In his memoirs, Jean Roudillon reminds us that Charles Ratton, among his few writings, published a text in Présence Africaine in 1951 entitled "L'Or fétiche" ("Fetish gold"). A text that Pierre Amrouche rightly referred to in the catalog of the sale of the Vérité collection, where five of these masks from a "royal Akan treasure" reappeared, to explain the notion of "fetish gold". Referring to the etymology of the word "fetish", facticio in Portuguese translates as "wild idol", considered to be false as opposed to Catholic imagery considered to be true, "fetish gold" would thus designate a false gold because a low-title gold, and about which Charles Ratton quoted Willem Bosman in Voyage de Guinée (translated from French in 1705), a work in which the terms "Assiantés" and "Asiantés" first appear. "Assiantés" and "Aschiantis" appear for the first time, and the author complains about the poor metal alloys used by the Africans. The rediscovery of the "fetish gold" mask from the Jean Roudillon collection enriches a corpus of rare objects, cast in an alloy of low-title gold, copper, silver and iron, of which there were five other examples in the Vérité collection, at least two of which came from Madeleine Rousseau, another close relative of Jean Roudillon. The mask in the Roudillon collection has the same casting defects as those in the Vérité collection, and is stylistically close to the most classical of the five (lot 142). His well-modeled eyes are encircled by a braid, and he wears a rectangular scarification on his forehead and two at an angle on his face, as well as braided moustaches on either side of his mouth and five braids of beard on his chin. These masks are obviously reminiscent of the Wallace Collection's famous gold mask, a funerary portrait from the treasure of King Kofi Karikari, also showing casting defects. Whether a simple head, a trophy head, a ceremonial object to enhance the prestige of a dignitary, or a funerary portrait, our knowledge remains patchy concerning these objects, which probably came from family treasuries where they were kept in the Dja. The Akan, who came from Ghana at the end of the 18th century, are said to have taught the Baoulé how to melt gold at the time of the legendary queen Abla Pokou, from whom the Baoule name originates. Gold is revered, feared and considered alive by the Akan. "It moves in the ground, appears in the air in the form of a rainbow and speaks barking like a dog". Akan or Baoulé, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire Gold alloy (8.46 ct) with copper, silver and iron, visible cracks and casting defects, old patina from use H. 12 cm For Dja and Akan gold, see pp. 220-245 in: Corps Sculptés Corps Parés Corps Masqués, Galerie nationale du Grand Palais Paris, Ed. Association Française d'Action Artistique 1989. For masks from the Vérité collection, see pp. 134-139, lots 142-146 in: Arts Primitifs Collection Vérité, Pierre Amrouche, sale catalog June 17-18, 2006, Enchères Rives Gauche. For the mask from the Wallace collection, see p. 325 in: Trésor de Côte d'Ivoire, François Neyt, Ed. Fonds Mercator 2014 Provenance : Jean Roudillon Collection