Origin: Dan ethnic group, Liberia / Ivory Coast Dated: 2nd half XX century

Masks of the Dan ethnic group were made by artists under the strict supervision of priests. Any adult male could become the owner of the mask, but the decision to use it rests with the priest. Its power depends on the social rank of the owner and is accumulated by it. Among the Dan peoples, two essential styles can be distinguished, naturalistic and abstract. The first one occurs in the Northern Danes (Ivory Coast). The eyes are an element that proves the mixing of styles - marked by a narrow horizontal slit or a slightly protruding cylindrical opening. The presented mask shows a man, it was purchased in artisan in Yamassoukro.

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The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".