Description
Some of the masquerades that were popular across southern and central Côte d’Ivoire in the 19th and early 20th centuries have evolved and remain active today, but the small, flat masks of the various interrelated peoples of the southern Lagoon region have faded and grown obsolete. This is one of only three such masks housed in a museum collection. Animal fur (possibly monkey) stands in for hair and a beard while the circular mark on the forehead represents a shaved hairstyle.
Provenance
Roger Bediat (died 1958), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and Paris, France, by late 1930s [see Primitive Art in the Collections of the AIC, 1965, no. 64, as Ex Coll. Bediat; this and the following information provided by personal communication with Hélène (ex-Kamer) Leloup, October 1982, documented in curatorial file]; by descent to his step-son Georges Stoecklin (died 1997), Nice and Cannes, France, 1958; sold to Henri and Hélène (ex-Kamer) Leloup, Henri A. Kamer Gallery, New York, N.Y.; sold to the Art Institute, May 1962.
Accession Number
14729
Medium
Wood, pigment, and fur
Dimensions
25.8 × 20.7 × 10.2 cm (10 1/8 × 8 1/8 × 4 in.)
Classification
masks
Credit Line
African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund; through prior acquisition from the Gaffron Collection