Sagbé(?) face mask

With its slender projection tapering to a closed point below narrow slit eyes, this black mask closely resembles the guégon, one of the most respected masks of the Man region of Côte d’Ivoire. It differs from that genre in subtle ways, most clearly in the mouth. Here the mouth is carved into the projection as a solid form and does not open as a working mouth would. The small holes along the length of the projection most likely held a beard, now lost. Taken together, these features suggest that the mask is a sagbé, a mask charged with protecting the village from fire (Kamara 1992, 20).

Sagbé, also pronounced sakpé or zagbé (Holas 1962, 118–19), guards against one of the gravest dangers of village life. In the dry season, when wind and dry thatch can turn a single cooking fire into a disaster for an entire village, the mask enforces the rules that keep fire under control (Fischer 1978, 21). A woman who neglects the order to put out her fire may be called before the elders and required to bring a fine chicken and rice (Marron 2004, 132). The Dan author Mamadou Kamara, who grew up within the mask hierarchy at Séma, described sagbé in 1992 as the tutelary mask of the Diomandé against house fires and bush fires (Kamara 1992, 20). Writing in 1962 about the neighboring Toura, northern neighbors of the Dan, the ethnologist Bohumil Holas found their sagbé nearly identical to the Dan masks of the same name. He described a nervous, irritable character whose outbursts were redeemed by irresistible clowning. He also noted that it carried more sacred weight than the other masks of its category, most of which were entertainers (Holas 1962, 118–19). The sagbé joins discipline and comedy. The figure that enforces a rule meant to save lives can also make a village laugh. More importantly, sagbé masks do not speak, rather they communicate using their left hand. A guékia, or assistant to the mask, translates into words the sagbé’s message.

The proposed attribution remains speculative given the work's incomplete state. Masks with a projecting lower face have often been grouped together (Fischer and Himmelheber 1984, 81). A Dan audience would not have relied on the carved face to tell these genres apart (Fischer 1978, 19). Sagbés are more recognizable through their costumes which have leaves incorporated into their headdresses, head-to-toe boubous, and short raffia skirts. They hold a branch or stick used to threaten or sometimes hit teenagers who venture too confidently into the performance area.

Yann Petit, 2026
Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow