WE-GUERE OR WOBE, IVORY COAST

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Ivory Coast is home to a number of iconic mask-making traditions, including those of the Dan and their neighbors the Guere. Of the two, the Guere (alongside the Wobe, with whom they share the collective culture name of We) are known for more extravagant and aggressive designs. Their masks often utilize strongly exaggerated and grotesque features to make a forceful impression upon the viewer. Striking images conjured from wood and fiber, they primarily functioned in rituals and initiations, education, and the exertion of social control.

The zro gla mask is one of these. It is a female image associated with health and fertility, and was used to communicate with and honor ancestral spirits. Typical features include large, bulging eyes, a wide mouth, and an enlarged nose. Adornments of paint, feather, animal hair, and metal are also common. Zro gla sometimes show scarification patterns, reflecting the traditional practices of the Wobe. Black, white and red – colors that bear spiritual, supernatural, and social symbolism – form a standard palette.

This example shows the classic features of the type, with bulbous, slit eyes and a large nose dominating the face. Above the projecting eyes juts a prominent forehead that thrusts the center of the face back into a central concavity reminiscent of Dan mask designs. Fang-like teeth hook down from the upper lip of the open mouth, which hangs low on the face, obscuring the chin. Nose and cheekbones are decorated with tacks, remnants of a more extensive decoration scheme that once bordered the perimeter and centerline of the forehead, as evidenced by numerous loss impressions in the wood. Old exhibition label from Cleveland Museum of Art.

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