Cleveland Museum of Art

Face Mask

Date

possibly early 1900s

Medium

Wood, metal, leather, and organic materials

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire or Liberia, Dan-style maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A Dan face mask's use and the costume that accompanied it are important elements that contribute to the name it receives. While we don't know those details, we can say it originally had an elaborate fiber hairstyle attached through the holes around the edge. Based on its appearance and other similar examples, this face mask with a high forehead in northern Dan style may have been called either sagbwe or gunyege . As a "runner mask," it was engaged in running competitions once organized every Sunday during the dry season. As a "fire-watcher," its main task was to protect the village from fire when the dangerous desert wind called Harmattan blew during the dry season. The eyes of this mask were altered from slits to circles; the original shape is most visible on the right eye.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.