Dan Wood Passport Mask, Based

A dark mask with a pale, jagged fringe of hair and a mouth full of clenched teeth.

This dan passport mask is Dan, from Liberia, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is wood. Among the Dan of Liberia and neighboring Ivory Coast, small masks of this kind are generally described as personal masks kept for protection or as a spiritual double. An oval face with narrow slit eyes, a broad flat nose with white-painted nostrils, and a heavy lower lip. Pale streaks run across the forehead like a ragged crest. The surface is dark and glossy with worn patches, mounted on a stand. It is 3 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 6 high.

Frowning with total commitment, and not a flicker of doubt.