Lot 175A: A Guro facemask

Guro, Ivory Coast; H: 14 1/2"

Wonderfully carved, the pair of boxers about to engage in fisticuffs atop the serene and well patinated feminine face.

Comments:
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 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.



Provenance:
- Zollman Collection, IND
- Gelbard collection, NY

Publication History:
Remnants of Ritual: Selections from the Gelbard collection of African Art (2003) Bourgeois & Rodolitz; Pg. 11, Fig. 26

Exhibition History:
Exhibition History: USA: "Remnants of Ritual, Selections from the Gelbard Collection of African Art":
- University Park, IL: Governors State University, February 2003
- Krannert, IL: Krannert Art Museum, 26 August-26 October, 2003
- Kansas City, MO: Belger Art Foundation/UNIVERSITY of Missouri-
Kansas City, 2004
- Park Forest, IL: Tall Grass Art Association, 2005

Price Realized: $1,600

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