Dan-We Power Mask with Medicine Cavity & Fibre Crown — Côte

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R5,200.00 /Ea

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Product Description

There are masks made to be seen — and masks made to act. This rare Dan-We power mask from the western forests of Côte d'Ivoire belongs firmly to the latter. At its crown sits a circular cavity, sealed and hollowed into the wood itself — a kono medicine receptacle, filled by the village healer with protective substances: herbs, animal matter, sacred earth. This cavity is not decoration. It is the seat of the mask's power, the dwelling place of the spirit it was carved to house.

The face is rendered with disarming humanity — high cheekbones, a slightly parted mouth revealing carved teeth, a broad nose with open nostrils that seem to breathe. The pale kaolin wash that covers the surface is not paint applied for aesthetics; it is ritual whitening, the colour of ancestors and the world beyond death. The crown of twisted fibre and wrapped cloth — worn and darkened with age and handling — frames the face as it would have appeared in firelight during nocturnal ceremonies of healing, judgement, and initiation.

A small carved figure nestles within the fibre at the temple — a secondary spirit attendant, watching. Nothing on this mask is without meaning.

Aged, authentic, and deeply charged with presence, this is a mask for those who understand that the most powerful objects are not always the loudest ones.