WÉ, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. - Lot 157

WÉ, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. Dance mask featuring a face with a striking expression. The massive nose dominates a wide-open simian mouth, adorned with two stylized downward-pointing facochere teeth. Four conical eyes sculpted in relief intensify the effect of presence and power. The visored forehead accentuates the frontal élan of the piece, while the clear volumes and mouth transformed into a maw reinforce the animal, hybrid dimension of the whole. The whole bears witness to an expressive, controlled sculptural work, virtuously combining geometric forms and zoomorphic references. Wood, hair, metal, red fabric, old brown patina, white and ochre pigments, old internal wear marks, chip on lower lip. Dimensions: 31 × 21 cm Provenance: Former collection of painter Donald Taitt, Dordogne, assembled 1960-1970 Among the Wé, neighbors of the Guéré and Dan, dance masks express supernatural and protective forces. This type of hybrid mask, combining animal attributes (monkey, facochere) and stylized human features, was used in ceremonies of justice, initiation or social control. The double gaze, materialized by the four eyes, reinforces the mask's symbolic ability to see beyond the visible, into the worlds of the spirit and the sacred. The mask's exaggerated expression and formal theatricality accentuate its ritual effectiveness and its function as a mediator between man and the invisible.