Baule Mbolo Portrait Mask, Based

Carved to look like someone in particular, which is the whole idea.

This mbolo portrait mask is Baule, from Ivory Coast, West Africa, 20th century, in carved wood, mounted on a base. In Baule entertainment dances, portrait masks were danced to honor a specific, admired person, often a respected woman, who might appear alongside her likeness. A dark, polished face with small pursed lips and a slender nose sits below an elaborate ridged coiffure, finished with a small knob on top. Raised scarification marks the temples, brow and cheeks. Pale eyelids catch the eye. Twenty and a quarter inches high.

Flattering, and intended to be.