A Dan fire runner's mask

A Dan fire runner's mask or runner's mask, from the region Man, village Biankouma, Ivory Coast, of oval hollowed form, a pointed chin, a protruding slightly open mouth with full lips, a short wide nose, arched eyebrows, pierced round eyes with aluminium borders, a chin beard made from raffia, the head capped by a raffia coiffure, atop of the head four cowrie shells, the mask pierced through for attachment; shiny brownish to blackened patina, traces of age and ritual use, the right aluminium border partly missing, incl. stand. Provenance Mohamed Belo Garba.

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.

600 - 700,- Euro

Height: 23 cm

Weight: 700 g (incl. stand).