Dan, Wee, Kran, Guerre Guere Mask Liberia

Overall Condition: Good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.   Small splits, scrapes and cracks are a normal part of their patina attesting to their age and extensive use.  We examine each piece carefully when we receive it and report any damage we find in our listings.  Please look carefully at the pictures which may also reveal condition and damage.

Damage/Repair:

Both the Dan and Wee have dynamic masking associations known as Poro that initiate the young and regulate society. Poro is an exclusively restricted men's society, however masks between the Wee and their Dan neighbors are divided into male and female categories based on their form and details. Female masks are rounded or oval, narrow eyes and finely delicate non-challenging features, whereas the male mask is larger in size, grosser in proportions, with an open and challenging mouth with teeth, tube-like eyes, fur and raffia. The exaggerated features of this mask, though vaguely human, refer to forces in the bush whose energy and powers add to the authority of the spirit represented. Whereas female masks appear to entertain, male masks exercise social control, punishing wrongdoers, settling disputes, declaring wars and proclaiming peace. In the past they are also said to have been in the bush camps when the boys were being initiated. Wee masks like this were meant to instill fear through their appearance combining human and animal features and remembrance of the masks's aggressive behavior in the past.