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Portrait Mask (mblo)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Male and female mblo masks, highly valued by the Baule people, are used in a variety of entertainment dances. Wearing elaborate coiffures and delicate facial scars, they are seen as portraits of known individuals. Their idealized rendering embodies core traits of Baule aesthetics, including lustrous skin, a high forehead, and downcast eyes, signs of good health, intelligence, and admiration, respectively.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePortrait Mask (mblo), early to mid-1900s. Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver. Wood and paint; overall: 41.2 cm (16 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White, 1974.203
