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Black wooden mask - (Wai los, Kpelle; ToGe, Mano). Hears palaver and has a sacri
Black wooden mask - (Wai los, Kpelle; ToGe, Mano). Hears palaver and has a sacri
Object Number 48-36-50/7315
Display Title Black wooden mask - (Wai los, Kpelle; ToGe, Mano). Hears palaver and has a sacri
Descriptions
Indigenous Term "Wai los, Kpelle; TôGe."
Object Description Black wooden mask - (Wai los, Kpelle; ToGe, Mano). Wood mask with a central vertical brow ridge of copper alloy (brass?), tubular eyes, a broad nose, pronounced cheeks and wide projecting mouth with real teeth and a moveable lower mandible covered with a red wool(?) textile. A 'beard' of plant fiber braids, some strung with seed pods, is attached to the bottom of the mask. The front surface is covered with a dark black accretion/encrustation. See the Conservation Record for additional information on materials and technology. Hears palaver and has a sacrifice of a sheep (formerly human) every year; seed on beard added with every sacrifice (several seeds missing);
Inventory Description Mask, carved wood, protruding metal ring eyes, articulated jaw, fiber and nut fr
Classification
  • Mask
Department Ethnographic
Date ca. 1850
Culture
  • Mano
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
Africa / Liberia
Additional Geographic Terms Busi
Materials Wood, Plant fiber, Seed, Wool, Brass, Textile, Seed pod, Tooth
Dimensions Overall: 33 x 25.3 x 16.5 cm (13 x 9 15/16 x 6 1/2 in.)
Quantity 2
Label on object 48-36-50/7315
Provenance
Collector Dr. George W. Harley (1947-1948 - 1948)
Donor Dr. George W. Harley

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