Ivory Coast
Early 20th century
Wood, studs
33 cm
Provenance
Philippe Ratton, Paris
Exhibitions
Parcours des Mondes, Paris, 2024
AMART – Antiquariato è a Milano, Museo della Permanente, Milan, 2024
The masks represent the pinnacle of Yaouré art and are recognized as the most refined and complex in Ivory Coast.
They are characterized by the delicacy and regularity of their forms, the clarity of their construction, and the purified realism of the facial features.
In the traditional cultural context, their function was to propitiate the benevolence of yu, the powerful spirit who governs the cycle of existence and dispenses fertility.
Surrounded by sacred respect and, except during public appearances, forbidden to the uninitiated, the masks are loosely grouped into two categories: je and lo, distinguished solely by the presence or absence of color.
Je masks are generally polychrome, while lo masks are uniformly black.
This delicate portrait mask best represents the symbolic content assigned to this type of mask and is a testament to the extraordinary creativity and sculptural skill of Yaouré artists.
Disregarding the boundary between the real and the unreal and through perfect control of forms, it manages to coexist and harmonize opposites: the natural and the supernatural, detachment and strength, treating naturalistic elements as ornamental and imposing an entirely symbolic superstructure.
The oval face, with its full and delicate volumes, is strictly organized around the central axis represented by the long, slender nose, where the perfect curves of the eyebrows converge along with the arcs formed by the elongated beaks of the two birds.
A triple incision, indicating the hairstyle, concludes the oval of the face.
Minute scarifications and a faintly suggested beard, gathered under the chin, give the expression a sense of dignity.
The mannered and elegant forms of the pair of birds at the top consistently conclude the composition’s architecture.
Through these elements, the artist’s freedom of expression is revealed within the context of a sacred tradition governed by revered and unchangeable canons.
The motif of the two birds drinking from a single vessel symbolizes reconciliation between nature and humanity and embodies the unity of two categories considered fundamental in Yaouré thought: beauty and order.
