Anthropomorphic face mask "tankagle"
Click here to view a larger version of the imageLot: 200
89th Tribal Art AuctionAnthropomorphic face mask "tankagle"
Côte d'Ivoire, Dan
Provenance | Size | Starting price / estimated price |
---|---|---|
Emil Storrer, Zurich, Switzerland | H: 8.9 inch | This object is not available anymore. |
wood, eyes damaged along lower rim (probably once narrow with metal borders)
"Tankagle" means something close to "dancing miming masquerade". They entertain the spectators with various beautiful dances, and sometimes they perform short skits or songs. "Tankagle" wears "komo", a bonnet-like cap with applied decorations including the "bla ka", a strip of goat skin covered with cowrie shells. The costume consists of of a pair of trousers with a skirt of bast fibre. The mask dancers wear leg rattles and hold calebash rattles in their hands.
Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zürich 1976, p. 61, ill. 26; Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, The Arts of the Dan in West Africa, Zurich 1984, p. 29, ill. 28