Bete/Guro Mask, Côte d'Ivoire

Max Rouayroux Collection, Nice, since 1960

Bernard Dulon, Paris

Philippe Guimiot, Brussels, 1994

Merton D. Simpson, New York, 1999

Samir & Mina Borro Collection, Brussels

Sotheby's, Paris, Art d'Afrique et d'Océanie, 14 December 2011, lot 22

Collection Sheikh Saoud al-Thani (1966-2014), London, acquired form the above sale

Thence by descent

Paris, Galerie Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, Parcours des Mondes, The Eye: an Illustrious Collection (L'oeil: Une illustre collection), 11 - 16 September 2018

Arts d'Afrique Noire, Fall 1994, n° 91, p. 63;

The Eye: an Illustrious Collection (L'oeil: Une illustre collection), Galerie Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, 2018, pp. 102-103 & 105, n° 36

This Guro–Bété mask belongs to a sculptural tradition where stylistic boundaries reflect the cultural proximity and exchanges between various groups in central-western Côte d’Ivoire. The Guro, renowned for the refined craftsmanship of their face masks and multi-figure compositions, share an aesthetic with some of the Bété workshops, marked by clean lines and a distinct preference for slender forms.

The ten masks that comprise this corpus belong to an ancient style - one that disappeared too early to be studied in situ - and stand out as some of the most accomplished expressions of Ivorian art. Anne-Marie Bouttiaux (2009:87) sees in them “the regal bearing of dignitaries in their prime”, while Ariane Deluz associates them with the Gyé society (in AFAA, 1989:131). The presence of the ritual iron set atop the forehead on this mask lends further credence to the interpretation of these items as powerful symbols of authority.

The limited information we have regarding the circumstances of their collection suggests an origin in the southern part of Guro territory, south of the road between Bouaflé and Daloa - bordering the Bété region(Deluz in AFAA, 1989 : 131).

Mutual exchanges between Bété and Guro sculptural traditions - already noted by Tauxier (1924:207, 237) and later by Fischer and Himmelheber (1985:228) - find a particularly accomplished expression here. The pared-down styling brings out lips that curve over pointed teeth, while the tension of the sinuous profile and the ridges that run along the face and across the forehead accentuate the expressive power of its stance.

Among the most notable pieces within this corpus are the mask from the former Musée des Colonies, now held at the Musée du quai Branly (Meauzé, 1967:170) and celebrated since its 1966 publication as one of the masterpieces of Ivorian art, as well as three closely related masks: the one in the British Museum, London (inv. Af1951,34.1), the former Duponchel collection mask collected in 1904 by Dr. Bouffard (Utotumbo, 1988, no.65), and the mask acquired before 1910 by Amédée Henri Faivre, now at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich (Sotheby’s, 5 December 2007, No.34).