Yohouré mask Ivory Coast Wood and pigments H.... Lot 4

Yohouré mask Ivory Coast Wood and pigments H. 30.5 cm Yaure mask, Ivory Coast H. 12 in Provenance: - Former private collection, Belgium Publication: - Alain-Michel Boyer, Patrick Girard and Marceau Rivière, Arts premiers de Côte d'Ivoire, exhibition catalog, 1997, p. 90, fig. 84 Exhibition: Arts premiers de Côte d'Ivoire - Arts premiers de Côte d'Ivoire, Château de Carmes de La Flèche, January 11 to March 3, 1997, Château Saint-Jean de Nogent-Le-Rotrou, March 8 to April 28, 1997 Located in central Côte d'Ivoire, the Yohourés occupy a small territory. Their masks with human faces are of great finesse and expression. They are often part of the "je" or "lo" ensemble, and are used in ceremonies to represent supernatural powers, linking them to the supreme god and creator, Bali. This important and sensitive klomle mask is a beautiful representation of a human face, on which two birds have landed. It links and reconciles nature and humanity. The lips and eyelids are enhanced with kaolin. The elegant hairline is highlighted by a line drawn with blue pigment. The top of the head is adorned with a trapezoidal base, itself surmounted by two birds, probably hornbills or ibises. A similar piece was in the Pierre and Claude Vérité collection, and in the Barbier-Mueller collection.