Dan deangle or tankagle mask, Ivory Coast/Liberia

13in tall x 9in wide (mask only) and 27in including attachments
33cm x 22.9cm and 68.5cm
wood, cloth, yarn, cowrie shells, bell, beads, horns, teeth, pigment

This mask was made by a Dan artist/craftsman, but after consulting with a couple of people with expertise in the area it was determined that the mask was most likely made specifically to be sold to outsiders. There was one opinion from someone I trust that the mask was a late mask which was made in culture for use, but it didn’t see any or much use. I’d rather error on the side of caution so I’m choosing to represent it as I am.

In performance, the masks are integrated into the hierarchical system that governs political and religious life. Dan masks have been documented as the embodiment of at least a dozen artistic personalities. Among these are Deangle, who ventures into the village from the initiation camps to ask women for food; Tankagle and Bagle, who entertain through a range of aesthetically pleasing dances, skits, and mimes; Gunyege, whose mask is worn by a community's champion foot racers in competitions; and Bugle, who historically leads men into battle. Once they are divorced from their performance contexts, however, mask forms are difficult to identify.

It’s a nicely crafted and overall very visually interesting mask. There is a lot going on with this mask, but all of the adornments do add a lot of visual interest. The rows of cowrie shells are something that is found on some documented Dan masks that have seen use. I’ve seen some used/authentic Dan masks with beads coming from the bottom part of the mask, but several collectors have told me that they believe that some of the additions were made after the masks left Africa. A majority of authentic masks entered the market with many of their original attachments removed, either by people in the cultures that would have used them, or by dealers cleaning them up attempting to make them more appealing to their clients. On the other hand, some authentic masks had things added to them by dealers attempting to make them more appealing to their clients that might not have originally been there, or things added that would have been on them in their original context. I have an authentic Luvale chisaluke mask that I posted on Facebook and I was contacted by a person who owned it in the 80s telling me that the white fur on the mask must have been added by a dealer afterwards because it wasn’t present on the mask when they owned it.

This mask has some stylistic characteristics similar to ones that are attributed to the carver who is called “Master of the Do-Dan” which includes the central ridge and the pointed projections at the top, and to a degree the shape and style of the mouth.

$600 plus shipping
*The mask is not sold with the display stand shown in the photos. It doesn’t work to display the mask properly and was only used for taking photos.