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Mblo Mask Baule – Ivory Coast

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Product Description

Dogon People Kanaga Mask - Mali
Ngere Krahn Mask – Liberia / Ivory Coast

Mblo Mask Baule – Ivory Coast

This example of  Baule art is over 25 years old. Baule art is sophisticated and stylistically diverse. The Mblo masks such as this one were used in entertainment dances, one of the oldest of Baule art forms. These refined human face masks are usually portraits of particular known individuals.

Made of 100% wood, pigments

Model is W 22 – H 18 and weight 2 kg.

SKU: AA-MAS2106 Category: Tags: , ,

Description

This is particular and unique Mblo mask originates from the Baule tribe, one of the largest ethnic group in the Côte d’Ivoire. Mblo is the name of a performance category that uses face masks in skits and solo dances.  Mblo masks, used in entertainment dances are one of the oldest of Baule art forms. These refined human face masks are usually portraits of particular known individuals. Mblo masks embody the core Baule sculpture style manifested in figures and decorated objects – spoons, combs, pulleys and the like. Lustrous curving surfaces, suggesting clean, healthy, well-fed skin, are set off by delicately textured zones representing coiffures, scarifications, and other ornaments. The idealized faces are introspective, with the high foreheads and the large downcast eyes. Ornaments above the face – such has birds, horns, statue, and other decorative motifs – are chosen for their beauty, and have no iconographic significance. Fine scarifications and coiffures denote personal beauty, refinement and a desire to give pleasure to others.

Baule art is sophisticated and stylistically diverse. Non-inherited, the sculptor’s profession is the result of a personal choice. The Baule are also noted for their fine wooden sculpture, particularly for their ritual figures representing spirits; these are associated with the ancestor cult.  The Baule have types of sculpture that none of the other Akan peoples possess. Wooden sculptures and masks allow a closer contact with the supernatural world. The Baule believe in an intangible and inaccessible creator god, Nyamien. Asie, the god of the earth, controls humans and animals. The spirits, or amuen, are endowed with supernatural powers. Religion is founded upon the idea of the immortality of the soul.

The Baule people have played a central role in twentieth-century history of the country. They belong to the Akan peoples who inhabit Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. According to a legend, during the eighteenth century, the queen, Abla Poku, had to lead her people west to the shores of the Comoe, the land of Senufo. In order to cross the river, she sacrificed her own son. This sacrifice was the origin of the name Baule, for baouli means “the child has died.” Now about one million Baule occupy a part of the eastern Côte d’Ivoire between the Komoé and Bandama rivers that are both forest and savanna land. The Baule society was characterized by extreme individualism, great tolerance, a deep aversion toward rigid political structures, and a lack of age classes, initiation, circumcision, priests, secret societies, or associations with hierarchical levels.

Additional information

Weight 2 kg
Dimensions 22 × 18 cm

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"

Beautifully carved Baule ancestral portrait originating from Ivory Coast. These refined human face masks are usually portraits of particular known individuals or dignitary celebrated during a ceremonial dance called Mbloâ. Masks such as this one were used in entertainment dances and are one of the oldest of Baule art forms. Baule art is sophisticated and stylistically diverse.

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