LARGE AFRICAN TRIBAL DAN MASK W/ COWRIE SHELLS, BEARD, BELLS LIBERIA

LARGE AFRICAN TRIBAL DAN MASK W/ COWRIE SHELLS, BEARD, BELLS LIBERIA

Dan mask with exquisite detail. 12” x 8”.
I cannot tell you the hair of the moustache and beard. Bells are on the burlap type material.

Cowrie shells were once the currency in many African communities and were added on this mask to denote affluence."The Dan people live in Liberia and Guinea. Like all Dan masks, this mask was considered sacred and not intended to represent spirits but was rather the spirits the Dan believed inhabit the surrounding forest.Features characteristic of Dan masks include concave surface, high forehead and a protruding mouth.The Dan people are noted as fierce warriors but are also notorious for their extensive mask-dance festivities. Masks which might have once been used for any of pre-war ceremonies, peace-making ceremonies or intermediaries between the spirit world and the village.