Bete mask, Ivory Coast - Lot 125

Lot n° 125
Go to lot
Estimation :
600 - 800 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 500EUR
Bete mask, Ivory Coast - Lot 125
Bete mask, Ivory Coast First half of the 20th century Wood, shells H. 33 cm What supernatural belief or ritual could have inspired such an original and impressive vision of plastic design, as intriguing as it is unsettling? For a long time, the creations of the Bété people living in a large area of the Ivorian hinterland, in a triangle bounded by the towns of Soubré to the west, Daloa to the north and Gagnoa to the east, raised questions as to the exact stylistic attribution, sometimes considered to be the work of their Wé neighbors, formerly known as Guéré or Guéré-Wobé, sometimes Bété. In 1896, along the Sassandra and Lobo rivers, Georges Thomann discovered populations he called Bété, from whom he brought back writings, masks and photographs. A few years later, around 1930, Vladimir Golovin, to the east of this territory, acquired sculptures in this style, indicating precisely the localities from which they came. A generation later, ethnologists Holas and Denise Paulme refuted and denied the existence of masks in Bété country. Through the rearrangement and disproportions of facial features, the mask embodies a supranatural being whose face is a hybrid blend of hypertrophied human attributes and elements borrowed from the animal world. Imposing nostrils, connected to the nose, extend disproportionately, like a replica of moustaches. The castanet-like shape of the eyes cleverly echoes that of the mouth, like an animal snout. A vast overhanging forehead, divided into two parts, a horizontal line in relief with an engraved cross at its center. Morphological and structural analysis of these carvings reveals that the arch extending across the mask's eyes represents horns positioned on each temple. The domed upper part of the skull is decorated with alternating vertical lines in relief and incised horizontal lines. A feathered beard enhances the lower jaw.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue