Mano Mask, Liberia

Merton D. Simpson, New York
Edwin and Cherie Silver, Los Angeles, acquired from the above on November 21, 1972

Excellent condition for an object of this type and age. Minor nicks, chips, scratches, and abrasions, consistent with age and use. Crusty remains of pigment around eyes. Area of abrasion on back top proper left edge. The number "579" written in red ink on the reverse. Exceptionally fine dark brown patina with encrustation.
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Like their better-known neighbors the Dan people, the Mano of northeastern Liberia produced stunningly refined sacred masks in a sculptural tradition of their own. Many of them were used in rituals by the Poro society, an initiatory group most prominent among the Mano, which imposed strict discipline on the entire social order, providing adjudications in disputes and overseeing a rigorous initiatory process for boys. As in the practices of other West African cultures, Poro rituals often featured masks as part of a full-bodied costume that embodied the spirit of an ancestor or in nature.

This Mano mask is distinct for the aesthetically soft and flesh-like texture of its surface. The subtlety of the sculptor’s rendering of the human flesh is most impressive in the area around the slit-like eyes, above which the eyebrows are depicted with the mere suggestion of two ridges and under which the cheekbone structure is sensitively represented by the contours of the wood’s surface. The area around the mouth and the pointed chin is similarly naturalistic; the artist has even etched vertical lines to depict minute natural folds on the upper lip. Furthermore, the broad and flat forehead and the lower two-thirds of the face are on intersecting planes, making the mask curved at the back. According to Monni Adams, this curvature in the mask “provides the most significant structural difference between the Dan and Mano face masks” (Adams, 'Locating the Mano Mask', African Arts, Vol. 43, No. 2, Summer 2010, p. 29).