Gouro style mask - Lot 84

Gouro style mask Ivory Coast Wood Height : 40 cm The long anthropo-zoomorphic face of the Zamble masks is convex, with finely modeled features. It combines supple forms and firm lines. These lines converge towards the curved shape of the muzzle, accentuating the effect produced by the jaw projected into space, wide open to the powerful fangs of the crocodile (yuwei). The animal character of the mask is reinforced by the presence of antelope horns. The panther component is also found in the Zamble mask, not in the mask itself, but in the panther skin worn attached to the dancer's back. The slightly raised eyelids are inscribed in round orbits. The whole is decorative: scarifications in relief, jagged edge of the forehead.