African Arts Gallery

Gouro Zaouli Mask (N° 13132)

African art Gouro.
Among the group of Mande of the south, in central Côte d'Ivoire, the Gouro have been using a family of African masks associated with the dance Zaouli since the 1950s. Like the Goli masks of the Baoulé, all Guro masks come in two zoomorphic masks followed by a third anthropomorph, which is considered the wife of the mask zamblé , the Gu . The Gu , whose function is apotropaic, represents a young woman with the criteria of beauty specific to Guro, especially facial scarifications and lime teeth. The zaouli incarnate a mature man with a beard represented by raffia cords attached to the lower perforations of the mask contours. The Zamblé, on the other hand, embodies a bush animal, usually an antelope. The forehead occupies three-quarters of the top volume of this mask. The middle rib joins a hairstyle shared in three sequences highlighted with punctures. Orbits are deeply sunk, dominating a triangular nose. The narrow rectangular mouth, protruding, has rows of teeth. Satin yegeted surface, two-tone patina. Source: "Africa, the Art of a Continent" ed. Prestel (p.455)