Dan mask
€450.00
Traditional Dan masks are among the best-known objects of West African tribal art.
The Dan speak a Mande language. They live in the northwest of Ivory Coast and in the bordering regions of Liberia.
Those from Liberia are often called Gio. Their neighbors are the Mano and Geh, who are culturally related.
The Guere (or Kran), called "We" according to Eberard Fischer, are close to the Dan and live in western Ivory Coast and northern Liberia. Unlike the Dan who speak a Mande language, the Guere are related to the Kwa group.
All these societies have a patrilineal kinship system.
Authority rests with the elders. These population groups cultivate rice and some cassava. Initiation - circumcision for boys, excision for girls - is an important and fundamental stage of life.
George W. Harley published in 1941 and 1950 a study on the poro among the Mano, Geh and Gio of Liberia and reported that this initiatory society is intertribal. The name poro comes from the term used by the Mende of Sierra Leone, which means earth.
According to the ethnologist Fischer, the poro does not exist among the Dan of Ivory Coast where most masks have a role in circumcision and excision.
Shipping fees
02534
Data sheet
- Presumed dating
- Mid XXth century
- Size
- 21 cm (36 cm with support)
- Ethnic group
- Material(s)
- Wood
- Country
- Origin
- B. Berete Collection
- Stand
- Included
- Condition
- Excellent
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Traditional Dan masks are among the best-known objects of West African tribal art.
The Dan speak a Mande language. They live in the northwest of Ivory Coast and in the bordering regions of Liberia.
Those from Liberia are often called Gio. Their neighbors are the Mano and Geh, who are culturally related.
The Guere (or Kran), called "We" according to Eberard Fischer, are close to the Dan and live in western Ivory Coast and northern Liberia. Unlike the Dan who speak a Mande language, the Guere are related to the Kwa group.
All these societies have a patrilineal kinship system.
Authority rests with the elders. These population groups cultivate rice and some cassava. Initiation - circumcision for boys, excision for girls - is an important and fundamental stage of life.
George W. Harley published in 1941 and 1950 a study on the poro among the Mano, Geh and Gio of Liberia and reported that this initiatory society is intertribal. The name poro comes from the term used by the Mende of Sierra Leone, which means earth.
According to the ethnologist Fischer, the poro does not exist among the Dan of Ivory Coast where most masks have a role in circumcision and excision.