Item Information Sheet
About This Piece:
A Dan Gle mask from the Dan people of the Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia border region. The mask features a smooth high oval forehead, large circular tubular eye rings, a refined nose, and an open mouth with carved teeth — a form associated with speaking or singing functions during ceremony. Residual kaolin white pigment across the face surface signifies ancestral presence and spiritual authority. Small sculpted ears retain red fiber attachments, and a full raffia strand beard hangs from the chin in long twisted cords, remnants of the original performance costume. Among the Dan, each mask (gle) is understood as a distinct spirit with its own character and ceremonial function, with the carver acting as intermediary between the human and spirit world.