The Cleveland Museum of Art Special Exhibitions Gallery of Sub-Saharan African Art

  Gallery of Sub-Saharan African Art > Curator's Highlight Tour > Face mask
 
 
Image of <I>Face Mask</I>, early 1900s<br>Ivory Coast, possibly Yaure people <br>Wood <br>Gift of Katherine C. White 1971.296
Face Mask, early 1900s
Ivory Coast, possibly Yaure people
Wood
Gift of Katherine C. White 1971.296

Face mask

This mask comes from the region of the central Ivory Coast, which is characterized by cultural assimilation and adoption. Connections can be seen in masquerades and in composite mask forms.

Among the Yaure, Guro, and Baule peoples, masks often blend human and animal features, and the depiction of elephant traits is a recurring theme. These peoples share culturally determined perceptions of the elephant.

Among the southwestern Guro and neighboring Yaure, elephant and other animal masks are associated with a cult called Dye or Gye, and they appear when important sacrifices have to be made.

Page 5 of 9 | On the next page: Mother-and-Child Caryatid Vessel (agere ifa)