MBLO PORTRAIT
MASK
Before 1935
Baule Peoples, Ivory
Coast
Wood, pigment, 16 x 5 3/4 in.
Gift of Jaimee Uhlenbrock
2006.020.002
One of the oldest
of Baule dances is the mblo, a dance of celebration and entertainment
that honors an ancestor. Masks are worn at the mblo that represent
specific individuals, but they are idealized according to the Baule standards
of beauty. Even so, no two masks are exactly alike. Only the best dancers
in a village would be allowed to participate in the mblo, since
the dance is focused on placating the spirit of an ancestor.