Mask, Guro; Ivory Coast
Wood, pigment; H. 14 1/2"
Surmounting this mask is a whimsical
interpretation of community life: a pair of boxing
figures are about to strike one another in absolute
contrast to the quiet and lowered eyes of the serene
female face below. This would suggest a competition
for the young woman's affections and patterned mating
rituals of the prime of life. A similar example,
also depicting two boxers and described as a Seri
mask, can be found in Die Kunst der Guro, Elfenbeinküste,
fig. 131.
