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Source Description
Male and female mblo masks, highly valued by the Baule people, are used in a variety of entertainment dances. Wearing elaborate coiffures and delicate facial scars, they are seen as portraits of known individuals. Their idealized rendering embodies core traits of Baule aesthetics, including lustrous skin, a high forehead, and downcast eyes, signs of good health, intelligence, and admiration, respectively.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
147842
label
Portrait Mask (mblo)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
147842
contentType
object
title
Portrait Mask (mblo)
description
Male and female mblo masks, highly valued by the Baule people, are used in a variety of entertainment dances. Wearing elaborate coiffures and delicate facial scars, they are seen as portraits of known individuals. Their idealized rendering embodies core traits of Baule aesthetics, including lustrous skin, a high forehead, and downcast eyes, signs of good health, intelligence, and admiration, respectively.
date
early to mid-1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 41.2 cm (16 1/4 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver
accession
1974.203
Source extras
tec
Wood and paint
tombstone
Portrait Mask (mblo), early to mid-1900s. Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver. Wood and paint; overall: 41.2 cm (16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1974.203
collection
African Art
formerAccessionNumbers
623.68
didYouKnow
This may be a portrait mask of a respected female elder.
citations
citation
Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. <em>African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 78.
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-06-16 14:24:42.537000
sourceId
147842
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
f379fa41d3a9b028