Anomam Mask

They represent spiritual power or “Yu”. Their artistic canons are quite similar to those of their neighbors. Guro and Baulé. Most of their masks present delicate faces of women with the typical hairstyles of the ethnic group. With a high forehead and semicircular eyes. A beaked ore borders the face of their masks.

They usually carry some motive over their heads like birds or combs, etc. They participate in the ceremonies of the “lô” and the “ye”. They are masks of funerary character intended to purify the village after a burial and to accompany and help the deceased on his way to the hereafter. Allure masks can participate in any type of ceremony.

Anomam are the masks that are topped by one or two birds. Anoman means bird. They also get the name Lomana. They were masks used in funeral rites, and in contact with the deceased's body they could acquire extraordinary forces that could become dangerous. These masks acted as mediators between the spirit of the deceased and the families. They were carried by the Dié male society whose members rendered worship to Yu, spirit or divinity intermediate between God and men.

This mask is topped by a bird like a scimer. Nice polychrome.