Guro people, Ivory Coast

24 inches, painted wood

Though most Guro have been subsistence farmers since colonization by the French in the early 1900’s, the population of the Ivory Coast these days is increasingly mixed and those who carve for a living are often city dwellers. This is is a full-size, beautifully sculpted version of the Gye, the most powerful mask of the Northern Guro. It is performed alone and without music, usually by a single man with a whip. It is worn on the head with the dancer seeing through the mouth opening. This handsome piece as been made for sale. It is also one of the most impressive pieces of traditional African art I have seen in a long time. Antiqued*