ITEM #:
4513
ETHNICITY:
Guere
ORIGIN:
Liberia / Cote d’Ivoire
MEDIUM:
Wood, Cowrie Shells, Cloth, Libations.
DIMENSIONS:
12″ tall (30.5 cm) / 27″ (68.5 cm) with cloth extended
CONDITION:
Very Good.

PROVENANCE:
Private Collection – Florida, USA.

CATALOGUE NOTE:

From the Wobe and Guere regions of Ivory Coast, this mask belongs to a group of dancer masks known as Dhi gla. What is often described as the Dan/Nguere complex includes the Dan, Guere, Wobe, Toma, Mano, Grebo and Kru, among others, all of whom occupy the belt that spans Liberia or Ivory Coast. All these groups have face masks which, within a heterogeneous cultural matrix, show stylistic homogeneity. The Wobe and Guere peoples of Ivory Coast still identify themselves as such, although modern ethnology groups the Wobe and Guere together under the name We. 

The mask is usually worn with an enormous fiber skirt that covers the knees, and the legs were wrapped in net leggings with rows of iron bells around the ankles. Masks of this genre carried out important social control functions, including judicial decisions, law enforcement, criminal punishment, fine collection, and dispute settlement. They were also used in the contexts of boy’s circumcision rituals. Dhi gla masks also sometimes appeared at funeral festivals and were also associated with profane festivals.

Today, as a result of the sociological evolution of societies, these masks have been relegated to entertainment functions.