Dan mask, Guinea, fabric, raffia, iron and animal hair

Dan mask, Guinea, fabric, raffia, iron and animal hair
H: 8,7 in
1960s-70s, ex-private collection (Hyères)
Dan mask attached to the Kono ethnic group present mainly in Sierra Leone and Guinea but also in Ivory Coast. This mask was commonly called Kwî Néa (cf. Holas Bohumil, Kono masks, their role in religious and political life, 1952) whose characteristics are red fabric, aluminum eyes, beard hair. It was a second-rate mask, linked to antics, servant of the main masks of the Poro cult. The patina and size of the mask gives it an age dating back to the second half of the 20th century.