Dan Masks of Western Côte d'Ivoire: How to Appreciate Them and What to Know When Collecting (Respect and Legal Provenance)

In the border region between western Côte d'Ivoire (in West Africa, French-speaking, the world's largest cocoa producer) and Liberia, the carved wooden masks of the Dan people are renowned for their glossy dark surfaces and oval faces, and they feature prominently in European and American museums and on the auction market. For the Dan, however, a mask is far more than a carving; understanding what it means is the prerequisite for appreciating it, and the starting point for collecting responsibly.

The mask is the face of a spirit

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York explains that in Dan society, dangerous, invisible spirits of the forest manifest in the form of masks with human faces; even when no one is wearing it, the mask itself is considered to hold spiritual power. The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art likewise notes that the Dan call masks gle or ga, and that when a forest spirit (du) wishes to help people, it takes on physical form through a mask.

The spirit chooses a man in a dream to embody it, specifying the type of mask, its name, its accessories, music and dance steps. Only men wear masks in performance; the performer is called a gle-zo. Masks serve a wide range of purposes, including maintaining social order, political and judicial affairs, settling disputes, education, competitions and entertainment.

Different masks, different roles

The Met's records list several documented mask roles:

A respected mask may later be "promoted" to become a gunagle representing a section of the village, or a gle wa with a judicial role. Smithsonian sources also note that the Dan seldom carve new masks for new needs, preferring to reuse accomplished old ones, so a mask's identity may change over time. This is why, once removed from its performance context, it is often hard to determine a mask's original role from its form alone.

Reading character from form

Although form alone is not conclusive, museum descriptions do offer some reading cues. The Met notes that gentle spirits such as Deangle often have features regarded as feminine, such as narrow almond-shaped eyes, while forms with animal features, regarded as masculine, usually represent more aggressive forces. A Deangle mask in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston — with its oval face, slit eyes, full lips and smooth surface — is described as embodying an ideal of beauty. By contrast, a mask in the Smithsonian collection representing a fierce male spirit has a protruding forehead, sharply angled cheekbones, large tubular eyes and an open mouth.

What to know when collecting

• Remember what it is: in Dan culture, a mask is regarded as a spiritually charged object even when not worn. When displaying one, avoid treating it as a joke prop or altering it casually.
• Ask about provenance: the "Red List" for West Africa published by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) urges buyers to check an object's provenance and legal documentation, and not to buy if there is any doubt about the legality of the transaction.
• Distinguish antiquities from new work: under Côte d'Ivoire's 1987 cultural heritage protection law, private exports of works of art and antiquities require a prior export certificate, whereas modern art and contemporary crafts are exempt. If a seller claims a piece is "old", the corresponding documents are all the more necessary.

One line for Asian readers

To appreciate a Dan mask, first see it as a "character" with a name and a role, not as an ownerless decoration; asking about its provenance before you buy is the most basic form of respect.

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References: The Met — Face Mask, Dan; The Met — Deangle (peaceful spirit) mask; Smithsonian NMAfA — Face mask, Dan; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston — Deangle Mask; Observatory of Illicit Traffic (ICOM) — Red List of West African Cultural Objects at Risk; Loi n° 87-806 portant protection du patrimoine culturel (CIVLII)