Spirit Mask
Spirit Mask
Place of OriginIvory Coast
Date19th century
DimensionsOverall: (H) 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm)
Mediumwood and pigment
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number
2025.129
Not on View
DescriptionWood face mask with protruding large round eyes and wide agape
mouth. A horizontal band of deeply carved triangular shapes line the
brow. The face is distinguished by black pigment throughout.
Published ReferencesRené Rasmussen, Art Nègre, ou le salut par les sauvages, Paris, 1951, p. 67, pl. 22
Roy Sieber and Frank Herreman, Hair in African Art and Culture, New York, 2000, p. 140, cat. 136
Frank Herreman, Facing the Mask, New York, 2002, p. 45, cat. 41
Ezio Bassani (ed.), Africa: Capolavori da un continente, Florence, 2003, p. 198, cat. 3.31
Heinrich Schweizer, Visions of Grace: 100 Masterpieces from the Collection of Daniel and Marian Malcolm, Milan, 2014, pp. 56-57, cat. 17
Exhibition HistoryMuseum for African Art, New York, Facing the Mask, September 19, 2002 - March 2, 2003.Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Africa: Capolavori da un continente, October 2, 2003 - February 15, 2004.
20th Century
Before 1880
1st century BCE - 1st century CE
20th Century
Roman or 19th century?
Early 1st millennium BCE
Possibly 1st century BCE
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