Mask - Wood - Dan - Ivory Coast

A hollowed Dan mask, Ivory Coast, a pointed chin beneath a large protruding mouth inset with aluminium plugs for teeth, red fabric attached to the lower lip beneath a nose with prominent nostrils, a narrow slitted eyes with aluminium frame, prominent cheekbones, bulging forehead, surmounted with a raffia coiffure, pierced through at the rim for attachment; shiny black patina, traces of age and ritual use, provenance Amadou Bouaflé. Amadou Bouaflé, during his performance 30. 12. 2019 in his house Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Last photo) . Lit. : Eberhard Fischer and Hans Himmelheber: The Arts of the Dan in West Africa, Museum Rietberg, Zürich, 1984; Eberhard Fischer: Dan Artists: The Sculptors Tame, Si, Tompieme and Sõn- Their Personalities and Work, Zurich, 2014; Sothe by's Auction Catalog: Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, New Y ork 2001, p. 94; Lorenz Homberger (Hrsg.) : Masken der Wè und Dan Elfenbeinküste. Die Sammlung des Schweizer Malers Charles Hug, Paris 1928-31 mit einem Beitrag zum Maskenwesen der Wè von Hans Himmelhebe, Zürich, 1997.