Face mask (Kpelie-yehe)
Label TextPerformers pay homage to female refinement in kpelie masquerades. Glistening black, crisply carved surfaces depict an idealized female face with features that include scarification marks and two protruding locks of hair. The character, which wore bright scarves and cloths and danced with swirling energy, was expected to honor the life and family of a deceased elder at a funeral.
Object number81.17.259
ProvenanceCollection of Karl-Heinz Krieg (1934-2012), Neuenkirchen, Germany; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1979; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Not in catalogue.Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions10 13/16 x 4 15/16 x 3 7/16 in. (23 x 12.6 x 8.8 cm)
MediumWood and pigment
Object number: 81.17.262
Object number: 81.17.264
Object number: 68.7
Object number: 2005.65
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