DAN, IVORY COAST

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Most Dan masks, and those of the culturally related peoples of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, are commonly executed in a miniature form, ranging in height form between two and eight inches. The most common mask type represented in this format is deangle (an attractive mask with slit eyes, which demonstrates a feminine behavior) while the least common miniature forms are aggressive masks with tubular eyes and animal mouths. Anyone who has a spiritual connection with a mask, or whose family owns an important mask, is entitled to commission a miniature.

Miniature masks are referred to by a variety of names. The most common is mago (“small head”), but other epithets include yi luo po (“thing which water is poured over”), gba po (“thing which is fed”), or nyonkula (“substitute for the ancestors”). In keeping with this multiplicity of identities, they fulfill a range of different functions. They serve as portable and personal surrogates that share the power and protective force of the full-sized mask they depict. Carved to embody tutelary spirits, they testify to the presence of the spirit associated with a large masquerade. When a maskette’s owner is traveling, it provides a means of identification for him outside his immediate community. It is from this latter role that the commonly used term "passport mask" originates.

Although women do not ordinarily have access to masks, those from families with a strong connection to a specific mask may commission a miniature to preserve ties to their own family identity after they marry. Diviners can also advise individuals to commission a miniature mask for preventative, protective, or curative purposes. 　

While they are primarily the personal property of an individual, miniature masks may also play a communal role in secret societies. They are among the protective objects displayed at men’s society meetings, and can be shown to new initiates. On these occasions they are interpreted to be representations of major benevolent spirits, and are used as sacred objects upon which oaths are sworn. They are often attached to other powerful objects such as leather pouches or antelope horns filled with medicines. In this context, their reverse sides can also be packed with charges of magical ingredients.

Whether personal or collective, miniature masks must be “fed” regularly in order to retain their strength and be of help to their owners. Offerings of food may be set before them, or rubbed or poured directly onto them. Blood from a sacrificial chicken might be applied to them on particular occasions. This diverse range of potential offerings and methods of use explain the marked variety observed in their surface patinas.

The maskette presented here conforms to the classic deangle type. It is quite petite at only two inches in height, but projects the same sense of quiet power as its full-size counterparts. The strength and harmony of its proportions – with its proud brow, tapering face, geometric features and concave eyeline – are masterful, and capture the striking grace of the deangle in accurate miniature.