African Mask African Hand Carved Dan-Kran Mask, Dan Zapkei Home Décor mask-G1402

40/23.5 -CM
the Dan-Kran, depicting a monkey (chimpanzee or guenon). The dances of the ‘Kagle masks’ in the villages of the Dan-Kran are wild and aggressive, and involve full body costumes and hooked sticks. The present ‘Kagle mask’, made of hard yet lightweight wood and dyed black, displays characteristic forms: a short, bulging forehead, deep-set, triangular eyes, protruding, triangular cheeks and a large, open mouth. At the top of the head is a (typical) iron pin. The present ‘Kagle mask’ is an especially old type, as suggested by the rectangular (rather than round) shape of the fastening eyelets for the mask costume along the edge of the mask, as well as by its tongue, which is made of red dyed terracotta. It also features black-dyed terracotta under the eyes and on the top of the head. An extraordinarily good piece with matching old usage patina.