Baule Ndoma Mask 1455 - For African Art Gallery

Baule Ndoma Mask 1455 - For African Art Gallery

BAULE NDOMA PORTRAIT MASK

Tribe: Baule
Country: Ivory Coast
Size: 18" (45.72 cm) Tall
Material: Wood.
Condition: Good
A portrait mask, signifying a beautiful woman, these masks were danced for entertainment. This portrait mask was probably created for a women that excelled at the production of cloth as there is a loom surmounting the head. Included on this mask are the scarification's on the cheeks that once typified the Baule (baule ngole) but no longer exist. Following independence, the government proscribed them in order to eliminate signs of ethnicity and bring all Ivoirians into a single people.
The Baule name comes from their myth of origin. In the seventeenth century, in what is today known as Ghana, the Denkyera kingdom rose to prominence, but a dispute led to a dynasty leaving the country. Abla Poku, the queen, had to flee far from Kumasi with her people, the Asabu, whom she led through the forests, but their trip was brought up short by the Comoe river. she consulted her diviner, who told her that to ensure safe passage across the river, she would have to sacrifice her only child. So, eager to escort her people to the promised land, she decided the she herself would throw the child into the waters as an offering to the river gods, crying out "Baouli" ("My child is dead!"), and the followers are said to have adopted this word as the name for their people in honor of the queen's sacrifice.