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Source Description
Tubular eyes and the fringe of carved leopard canine teeth identify this mask as male. Such masks appeared only during very important moments. The dancer wore a leopard skin over his head and shoulders, held an elephant's tusk in his hand, and had his face painted white. The masks function as peacemakers; they led soldiers into battle, and administered justice.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
146107
label
Face Mask (Tehe gla)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
146107
contentType
object
title
Face Mask (Tehe gla)
description
Tubular eyes and the fringe of carved leopard canine teeth identify this mask as male. Such masks appeared only during very important moments. The dancer wore a leopard skin over his head and shoulders, held an elephant's tusk in his hand, and had his face painted white. The masks function as peacemakers; they led soldiers into battle, and administered justice.
date
early 1900s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 38.1 cm (15 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire or Liberia, Wè-style carver
accession
1971.294
Source extras
tec
Wood, boar tusks, pelt, cloth, human hair, probably aluminum, reeds, iron alloy, copper alloy, plant fiber, and paint
tombstone
Face Mask (Tehe gla), early 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire or Liberia, Wè-style carver. Wood, boar tusks, pelt, cloth, human hair, probably aluminum, reeds, iron alloy, copper alloy, plant fiber, and paint; overall: 38.1 cm (15 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1971.294
collection
African Art
formerAccessionNumbers
830.68
didYouKnow
The masquerader who wore this mask also had a body costume of layers of raffia and matching anklets; cloth covered their head.
citations
citation
Boyer, Alain-Michel. We. Milano: 5 Continents Editions, 2020.
page_number
p. 28, ill. pl. 10 and p. 109
citation
Fagg, William. <em>African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection</em>. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: no. 60
citation
“New Acquisitions.” <em>African Arts</em> 5, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 77–78.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 78
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and Henry John Drewal. <em>African Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection: the Cleveland Museum of A</em>rt. [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1989.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 6, fig. 8
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: Selected Works of African Art.</em> [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 58-59, no. 14
creditline
Gift of Katherine C. White
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:29:42.209000
sourceId
146107
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood, boar tusks, pelt, cloth, human hair, probably aluminum, reeds, iron alloy, copper alloy, plant fiber, and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
009253468fd10600