Yaure Mask, Côte d'Ivoire

lomane
height 11 1/2in (29cm)

Provenance
Charles D. Miller, III, St. James, New York, collected in the 1970s

According to Iris Hahner, 'This mask type with a depiction of a hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), or perhaps a species of woodpecker, is called lomane. The word derives from anoman, which means "bird" in the Baule language and occurs in the songs which accompany the maskers' performance. . . The fourth of a total of seven Je masqueraders, the lomane dances around the body of the deceased, then bends over and touches it. Based on the statements of several Yaure, who say the mask kills the worms that decompose the body, this act could be interpreted as a symbol of purification.' (Hahner, Iris, Maria Kecskesi and Laszlo Vajda, African Masks - The Barbier-Mueller Collection, Prestel, 2007, p. 39).

Carved in elliptical shape with a rounded facial plane, framed with a zigzag band around the perimeter. The bird, centrally perched on the top of the coiffure with incised bands, bends forward with the beak pointing down towards the face. The eyes are slit open with heavy upper lids, framed by crescent-form brows. The straight and narrow nose gradually flares outward towards the nostrils above a perfectly circular mouth giving the impression of pursed lips; semi-glossy black patina.