Dan (Gio, Gioh, Gyo,Yacouba, Yakuba), Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia

Bagle mask. The Dan people numbering 350,000 live in regions covered by forest in the south and savannas in the north. Among the Dan, masks are not controlled by a men’s association, but instead are owned by families and used by individual lineage members in contexts of social control, boy’s circumcision camps, and entertainment. The Dan have achieved special notoriety in the area for their entertainment festivals which were historically village ceremonies, but are today performed largely for honorable visitors or tourists. Visually, the Dan masqueraders show an opposition between female beauty and gentleness and male fierceness and power. The Bagle masks have typical round or tubular eyes. They are worn to entertain while the wearer dances, beats the musicians with a curved stick and throws objects he finds in their way.

Material:  wood, red tissue, shells, vegetable fiber, white metal, bone

Size: 9”x 5½”x 3 ½”