Description

This is hand carved and stained mask that resembles masks of the Dan Tribe of Liberia. Dan masks have a typically high forehead, pouting mouth and pointed chin. They may also have scarification marks like the ones that decorate the forehead of this mask. Dan masks are carved in wood and stained with a brown dye, usually vegetable extract . Dan masks are considered sacred to the Dan people and they do not represent spirits of the wilderness, they are these spirits. This mask probably represents a tourist form of the mask and was not used in a cultural practice.