A very old and rare anthropo-zoomorphic koma ba mask with a - Lot 107

A very old and rare anthropo-zoomorphic koma ba mask with a long bird's beak and horns. This much-feared type of mask was borrowed by the Kono of Guinea and other Dan groups, but originated in this region from the Maou living in the border zone between Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia. But its ancient origins can certainly be traced back to the Komo mask of the Bambara, who spread their ancestral traditions around the 17th century at the time of the great southward expansion of the old Mandingo empire, and whose cultural and artistic influences can be seen as far as the sea and in all the forests of this region. Dan-Maou or Tura, Guinea or Ivory Coast, early 20th or 19th century Wood, iron, very fine old oxidation and very fine old patina. Height: 105cm Provenance: Renaud Vanuxem, Paris Renaud Vanuxem, Paris Stéphane Kurc Collection, Paris Exhibition and publication: 4th International Tribal Art Show, 2001, p.55