Portrait Mask (mblo)
Unknown Artist
early to mid-1900s
Medium
Wood and paint
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.412}}
Classification
Mask
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Katherine C. White
Accession Number
1974.203
About this artwork
Male and female mblo masks, highly valued by the Baule people, are used in a variety of entertainment dances. Wearing elaborate coiffures and delicate facial scars, they are seen as portraits of known individuals. Their idealized rendering embodies core traits of Baule aesthetics, including lustrous skin, a high forehead, and downcast eyes, signs of good health, intelligence, and admiration, respectively.