Lot: 118

95th Tribal Art Auction

Mask "geh-naw" of the "chu-den-zo" society

Liberia, Bassa

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
Edmondo Trombetta, Monza, Italy (coll. in situ, 1978-80) H: 8.9 inch This object is not available anymore.

wood, base

A nice detail are the separately worked "hair knots", which run in a horizontal line along the hairline.

These masks only became known in 1969, when they first appeared on the European and American art market.

"Geh-naw" was not worn in front of the face, but was fixed to a plaited frame, worn on the forehead. The dancers presented an impressive picture. They wore luxuriant grass fiber skirts, upper body and head were hidden under several layers of fabric.


Hahner-Herzog, Iris, Das Zweite Gesicht, Genf, München, New York 1997, ill. 30