Dan mask - Lot 74

Dan mask Ivory Coast Wood H. 23.5 cm Provenance : - Anthony Innocent Moris, known as "le père Moris", Paris, before 1930 - French private collection - Native Auction, Brussels, June 8, 2013, no. 36 - Private collection, France The face is organized within a beautiful oval, the mouth with lippid lips wide open, the philtrum marked, the metal teeth still present, the straight nose framed by two small slit eyes, the well-defined superciliary arches. The edges of the mask are engraved with deep cuts running down from the forehead to the chin, in the striped scarification style characteristic of the Dan-Diomandé populations. The black patina is enhanced in places by red pigments. In addition to its aesthetic qualities, our mask also stands out for its history. Photographed around 1920 in the interior of Père Moris, the famous pioneering dealer, it is a precious witness to the birth of the primitive arts market in Paris in the first third of the 20th century. Anthony Innocent Moris (1866-1951) had opened a store in Paris's 9th arrondissement, rue Victor-Massé, as early as 1914, with an apartment above it that he had literally filled from floor to ceiling with objects. Photographs of the apartment taken in the 1920s are still famous and have been reproduced many times. They show our mask enthroned on the famous chest of drawers commissioned by actress Sarah Bernhardt and made from ancient Maori panels, amid a multitude of masks and statues. The accumulation of so many rare objects remains as fascinating today as ever, and many masterpieces can be recognized in the photograph, having since entered prestigious public or private collections.