Product Description: Gunyeya mask

With its beard and hair of vegetal fibres, this mask is almost haunting. The Gunyeya also called the racing mask, has a pointed face and typically large circular eyes. Its wearer usually is pursued by an unmasked runner, when caught the pursuer then darns the mask and then is pursued by those they had previously pursued.

From side profile: 5 ½ inches
Height/Length: 11 inches
Width across face: roughly 6 ½ inches

Age: approximately 40+ years.

Tribal History: Dan People

Dan people, who are also known by the name Yacuba, live in the western part of the Ivory Coast and into Liberia where the land is forested in the south and bordered by a savannah in the north. The 350,000 Dan people make their living from farming cocoa, rice and manioc. Before unifying secret societies were set up at the turn of the century, each Dan village was an autonomous sociopolitical unit governed by a chief elected on the base of his wealth and social position. Today the leopard society acts as a major regulator of Dan life and initiates young men during their isolated periods of three to four months in the forest. Dan people have achieved notoriety in the area for their entertainment festivals which were historically village ceremonies, but are today performed largely for tourists. During these festivals, masked performers dance on stilts.

profile
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Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days.

$103.00

*This item is ONE OF A KIND!  Once ordered it is removed from our inventory listings.

Product descriptions adapted from similar ones in The Tribal Arts of Africa written by Jean-Baptiste Bacquart

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