Female singer mask "nineagla"

Côte d'Ivoire, Wè / Guéré / Wobé

Provenance	Size	Starting price / estimated price
Stéphane Mangin, Galerie Kanaga, Paris (2002) Yves Créhalet, Paris, France Rive Gauche, Paris, 18 November 2013, lot 70	H: 10.8 inch	This object is not available anymore.

wood, metal teeth, decorating tags, fabric, plant fibre, animal hair, base

"Nineagla" literally means "young-girl-mask". Although the masks represent beautiful young girls and always have typical women’s tattoos on the cheeks, they are always danced by boys and young men.

They appear especially after dark and form the lowest level within the mask hierarchy. Himmelheber reports: "Sometimes you can see very young boys with such a mask and only one companion walking through the village and here and there they show their singing skills without any special effort".

Galerie Helene Kamer (ed.), Guere-Wobe-Bete, Paris 1978, ill. 28

Luc Berthier et Marie-Noel Verger-Fèvre, "Dan, le Regard intérieur", African Muse Gallery-Luc Berthier, Paris, 2005, p. 2