Wooden ZAKPEI DAN mask - IVORY COAST

350,000 Dan live mostly in the western part of the Côte d’Ivoire and into Liberia, where the land is forested in the south and bordered by a savannah in the north. They make their living from farming cocoa, coffee, rice and manioc. They also live off game and fish. The Dan have the reputation of being fierce warriors, always battling their neighbors, the We, the Guro, and the Mano. From a cultural viewpoint the Dan are close to the We populations situated in forest regions of the south, and against whom they have waged innumerable wars. Lacking a central authority, the various groups had neither a political institution nor unity. The village is under authority of a chief and a council of elders.

Dan people have achieved notoriety for their entertainment festivals, which were village ceremonies, but are today performed largely for important visitors. During these festivals, masked performers dance on stilts. The go master, the head of the like-named society possesses the masks and guards them in a sacred hut. All Dan masks are sacred; they do not represent spirits of the wilderness, they are these spirits. Dan masks are characterized by a concave face, a protruding mouth, and high-domed Forehead. There are a variety of Dan face masks, each of which has a different function. They may be the intermediaries, who acts between the village and the forest initiation camp, may act against bush fires during the dry season, used in pre-war ceremonies, for peace-making ceremonies, for entertainment. Over time, many among them have lost their original function and have been recycled into contexts related to entertainment, emerging only for festivals or events organized for visitors. Nonetheless, the great masks live on, their even more rare appearances being reserved for times of tension, when it is important they may exercise their role of social control and their faculty to reduce conflict or settle legal wrangles. The Dan also carried small masks (less than 8”), which are sometimes called ‘passport’ masks. They were sewn onto a piece of cloth and kept in a leather pouch. They are miniature copies of a family mask and sometimes received libations. These masks also act as witnesses during initiation ceremonies and protect the owner when he is away from home. Dan masks are the real treasures of African art tradition, ranging in their expressive powers from gentle tenderness to fierce aggression.

This mask is a Zakpei Ge, or "fire-extinguishing" masker. They go about during the dry season at midday to make certain that women extinguish their fires before the potentially dangerous afternoon winds begin. Like most masquerades in Africa, the Zakpei Ge is a positive force in the community.

Condition: good with wear and tear. Please have a good look at the pictures as they are part of the description.

2nd half 20th century

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Sold without stand The mask is made of wood with hair from cords.

Height: 37cm with hair extensions

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