DAN, IVORY COAST

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Most Dan face masks, and those of the culturally related groups of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, are commonly executed in a miniature form, ranging in height between six and twenty centimeters. Even the largest miniatures are too small to be worn in front of the face, and they rarely exhibit any means by which they may be attached to anything. The most common mask type represented in such diminutive form is dean gle (attractive mask with slit eyes, performs a feminine behavior) while the least common miniature forms are masks with tubular eyes and animal mouths.

Miniature masks bear many names: the most common is ma go (small head), but depending on scholarship it has also been named yi luo po (thing which water is poured over), gba po (thing which is fed), or nyonkula (substitute for the ancestors). Echoing the variety of names, they fulfill a variety of functions. Anyone who has a spiritual connection with a mask, or whose family owns an important mask, is entitled to commission a miniature. They are wrapped up and kept on the owner’s body or among their possessions and function as portable and personal forms that share the power and protective force of the full-sized mask. When a mask’s owner is traveling, the miniature mask serves as an important means of identification outside their immediate community. This role may have given it the common appellation of ‘passport mask.’

Diviners can advise individuals to commission a miniature mask for preventative, protective, or curative purposes. Some scholars have stated that although women do not ordinarily have access to masks, those from families that have a strong connection to a specific mask may commission these miniature versions as a means of retaining ties to their own family identity after they marry.

In addition to being the property of one single individual, in certain instances maskettes may also play a communal role in secret societies. They are among the sacred objects displayed at men’s society meetings to protect the men collectively, and can be shown to new initiates. On these occasions they are interpreted to be representations of the benevolent spirits associated with the most important masquerades of the area.

Maskettes are also used as sacred objects for taking oaths and for swearing to tell the truth. They are often attached to other powerful objects such as leather pouches or antelope horns filled with medicines. In this context, their backs can also be stuffed with potent magical ingredients.

This fine maskette is of the classic dean gle type, showing the concave eyeline, slit eyes, tapered chin and protruding forehead of the well-known feminine image. The eyes are whitened and relief designs are present down the center line of the forehead and around the upper edge.