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Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
Mblo Portrait Mask with Crest
This portrait mask depicts a revered woman from Baulé society. Community members wore the wood mask during performances consisting of singing, dancing, and skits. Today, many appreciate these masks in museums for their visual appearance, but members of Baulé society valued them for capturing the matriarch’s presence within these ceremonies.
ArtistUnrecorded Baule artist
Côte d’Ivoire, Africa
Date19th century
MediumWood and pigment
Dimensions14 x 6 1/4 x 4 1/8 in. (35.6 x 15.9 x 10.5 cm)
Credit LineAlfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
ClassificationTribal Art
ProvenanceAlfred Stieglitz, New York, NY; by bequest to Georgia O’Keeffe (his wife), New York, NY, 1946; to Fisk University, Nashville, TN, 1949; to Fisk University, Nashville, TN, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, as co-owners, 2012
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 12× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.
