Do Mask Depicting a Noble or Muslim Elder | Yale University Art Gallery

late 19th–early 20th century

This mask, with an ornate hairstyle that is reminiscent of Islamic ornaments, belongs to one of the few masking traditions in African Muslim communities. The Ligbi were a cosmopolitan people who prospered in the eighteenth century because of their involvement in an extensive trade network. Along with neighboring groups, they practice a hybrid religion combining Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs, expressed in the activities of Do, an organization that preserved public order and participated in funerals. Heads of the Muslim Ligbi community or imams kept the masks, which appeared during the most important Islamic festivals.

Medium: Wood with pigment
Dimensions: 14 × 5 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (35.56 × 13.34 × 9.53 cm)
Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund
Accession Number: 2016.102.1
Geography: Bondoukou, Côte d'Ivoire, or Ghana
Culture: Ligbi
Period: 19th–20th century
Classification: Masks
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Gaston de Havenon, New York, 1965
Dr. and Mrs. Ernst Anspach, New York from 1965 (owned during 1969-1970 The Innovative African Sculptor exhibition)
Michael Oliver, New York, unknown dates
Daniel and Marian Malcolm, New Jersey from December 1989
Purchased by Yale University Art Gallery from Sotheby’s New York, Auction on May 7, 2016

Bibliography

"Acquisitions July 1, 2016–June 30, 2017," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2017), 3

Ulrich Klever, Bruckmann's Handbuch der Afrikanischen kunst (Munich: München Bruckmann, 1975), 173, fig. 144

George Nelson Preston, The Innovative African Sculptor (Ithaca, NY: Ethnographic Arts Publications, 1969), 48, fig. 111

Object copyright

Additional information

Object/Work type

ceremonial objects, masks (costume)

Subject

Islam elders nobility

Technical metadata and APIs

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