Bu Gle Mask

Place CreatedLiberia, Africa

CultureDan-Kran

Date1930s

MediumBrass, fabric, cowrie shells

Credit LineGift of Barbara and Larry Schulz in memory of their son Daniel Schulz.

Object number2021.006.001

Label TextIn African cultures, masks are not hung decoratively on the wall, motionless and separated from the rest of their attire. Masks would have been part of a larger costume made of embroidered or embellished fabric or raffia. The Dan mask presented here is unusual because its costume remains intact and many of the accessories, the cowrie shells, brass ornaments, fur, mirrors, and medicine packets, are still affixed. The smaller “passport masks,” affixed to the front of the costume, are commonly made as amulets worn by the owner or carried in a leather purse. Here, the two small holes on their forehead hold an embellishment and they are affixed openly to the front of the costume, perhaps suggesting that they are witnesses during initiation rites.

Made in the West Africa nation of Liberia, this mask was probably commissioned by a Poro society, a male group into which one must be initiated. Brass masks often represent especially important spirits and ancestors, marked by the permanence of the material. This mask, however, raises more questions than answers: was the brass face made at the same time as the costume or was it reappropriated? With such a heavy face-mask, how would it have been worn and danced? Are the textiles used for the costume contemporary to its production, or were they scraps from earlier garments? What is known from the Carlos’s conservation efforts is that the mask is a composite of brass, lead, and copper and the costume was repeatedly worn and repaired.

Learn more about the Daniel Schulz African Collection Support Endowment.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Installation, August 6, 2016 - December 16, 2018

ProvenanceEx coll. Berete family, Africa and United States, since 1940s. Ex coll. Larry and Barbara Schulz, United States, purchased from Hamidou Berete, New York, New York, 2010.

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