DAN, IVORY COAST

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Masks of the culturally related groups of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, including the Dan, are sometimes carved in miniature. Ranging in height between six and twenty centimeters, even the largest of them are too small to be worn over the face, and they rarely disclose any means of attachment. 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 are masks with tubular eyes and animal mouths.

These maskettes are variously called ma go (small head), yi luo po (thing which water is poured over), gba po (thing which is fed), or nyonkula (substitute for the ancestors). Each type of mask fulfills a particular function. Anyone with a spiritual connection to a mask, or whose family owns an important one, is entitled to commission a small copy. 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-owner is traveling, the miniature mask serves as an important means of identification outside their immediate community. This role may have given it the commonly applied name of ‘passport mask.’

Miniature masks may also play a communal role in secret societies. They are among the sacred objects displayed at men’s society meetings, and on these occasions they serve a protective role, representing the benevolent spirits associated with the area’s primary masquerades.

Whether personal or collective, miniature masks must be fed regularly to remain strong and able to help their owner. Food may be simply set before it, or the offering, such as rice or oil, may be rubbed or poured onto it. On special occasions a sacrificed chicken’s blood is spilled onto the mask. This range of offerings explains the variety observed in the patinas of these miniatures.

The black surface of this example has been richly textured by many feedings, leaving it lustrous and encrusted. Its concave face, slit eyes, and domed forehead suggest it is a feminine dean gle, though the incised circles circumscribing the eyes are a less common feature of these masks.