Grebo, Liberia

War mask. "Grebo" means "leaping monkey people," a reference to their flight from a former homeland near the Sahara. Their major economic activity is producing palm oil and palm kernels for export. They are ruled by a chief known as bodio who lives in near total isolation and also assumed the function of grand priest. The Grebo sculpt several types of masks. The Grebo masks incarnate the spirits of the invisible world who live in the forest. One type is characterized by a massive face surmounted by two buffalo horns. The second type of masks represents the female ideal with slit eyes and sweetness of expression. The masks of the third type to which the present mask may be related are male war masks, more abstract and with elongated nose and one or more pairs of tubular eyes. The war masks designed primarily to terrify appeared during battles, in the dances beforehand, and at the funerals of warriors.

Material:  wood

Size:   16”x7½”x3½”

Price: $225+$25 (S&H)                                                                  [#R8G8M464]