Goli - Baule - Côte d'Ivoire (No Reserve Price)

A Baule Goli mask, Ivory Coast, of interesting composition with a flattened surface to welcome the moulded face with delicate features of a half opened rectangular mouth, no nose and protruding eyes with diamond shapes surrounding them, the top of the mask is decorated with a seated male figure: a Baule man, hands on his knees his face serene, hair coiffed distinctly, around him is a circular twisted handle. The sides of the mask are delicately carved with geometric designs, and the rims are punctured with holes in order to attach a costume; signs of use, reddish tinge. Certificate of origin and providence.

“To articulate historians, the most consistent features of Baule art is a kind of peaceful containment. Faces tend to have downcast eyes and figures most often hold their ams against the body. […] Among their abundant art forms, the Baule people continue to place the greatest value on masks and figure sculptures, which remain the only sculptural art still widely used in Baule villages. While there is a difference between the Baule view of their objects and that of Western connoisseurs, there are points of agreement. Aesthetic appreciation is one: Baule artist, and individual owners of objects, certainly sometimes enjoy the beauty of these objects and the skill it took coproduce them. […] ” p. 141.

Lit: Baule: African Art, Western Eyes. Susan M. Vogel 1997.