The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 26, 2024
Mask (Kple Kple or Kouassi Gbe)
late 1800s-early 1900s
Overall: 40.7 cm (16 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1975.155
Location: 108A Sub-Saharan
Did You Know?
The wearer of this mask would secure it on his face by biting onto a (now-missing) piece of rope attached to the back.Description
This kple kple mask belongs to the first of four pairs of masks that entertain as part of a performance sequence in the goli dance. The male in each pair dances first. The masks are worn by young boys in a rapid stamping dance. The masqueraders alternate with each other and watch their partners perform. The head of the male kple kple is painted red, whereas the female, like this example, is colored black.- Metal Blast, Inc.; Katherine White Reswick
- Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
- CMA 1976: "Year in Review 1975," CMA Bulletin LXIII Feb., 1976), p. 66, no. 28CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 80, repr.
- {{cite web|title=Mask (Kple Kple or Kouassi Gbe)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s-early 1900s|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.155