Mblo Portrait Mask

Baule

1 of 2

Object Label

At a wide range of Baule festivals and celebrations, masks are danced and performed to entertain. This mask's delicate, symmetrical features, ornate hairstyle, and smooth surface all create an image of calm and grace. The mask is meant to exemplify an ideal of personal beauty and composure.

Caption

Baule. Mblo Portrait Mask, late 19th or early 20th century. Wood, oils, pigment, 10 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 3 in.(26.7 x 13.7 x 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.25. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.25_SL1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

Arts of Africa

Culture

Baule

Title

Mblo Portrait Mask

Date

late 19th or early 20th century

Geography

Possible place made: Lacs, N’zi Comoe, Côte d'Ivoire, Possible place made: Valle du Bandama Region, Côte d'Ivoire

Medium

Wood, oils, pigment

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

10 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 3 in.(26.7 x 13.7 x 7.6 cm)

Credit Line

The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection

Accession Number

1989.51.25

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.