Pretty Woman Headdress/Mask--Painting of an African Mask

Baule Peoples, Mblo Guild, Ivory Coast

The Baoule religious world consists of three realities :

• Domain of God (Niamien)
• The earthly world: area of human beings, animals and plants, as well as supernatural beings with vast powers who reside in the mountains, rocks, rivers, forests, etc.
• The beyond (blolo) where the spirits of the ancestors reside

The Baoulé people are talented in African art. Their sculptures are renowned for their refinement, form diversity and the labor they represent.

One in a series of eleven paintings inspired by tribal African Masks from museum or private collections.  This mask is the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, NY.  The mask was in use during the 19th and early 20th centuries.