174. Portrait mask (Mblo). Baule peoples (Côte d’Ivoire). Early 20th century C.E. Wood and pigment.

• Form
  • Broad forehead, pronounced downcast eye sockets, column-shaped nose: features associated with intellect and respect
  • Quiet faces; introspective look; peaceful face; meditative; eyebrows in an arch
• Function
  • Presented at Mblo performances in which an individual is honored with ritual dances; tributes are performed in his or her honor
  • The dancer who wears the mask and wears the clothes of the person for the performance is accompanied by the actual person in the performance
  • The honoree receives a mask–artistic double of the person–as a gift
• Context
  • The masks are commissioned by a group of admirers, not by an individual; this one was made by the artist Owie Kimou
  • The masks are an idealized representation of a real person
  • This is the idealized representation of Moya Yanso
  • From the Ivory Coast.