Handsome portrait masks of a man and a woman of the Baule culture of the Ivory Coast are shown against a background of palm leaves with a famous bird of the region: the colorful Hoopoe, named for his call, who ranges throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia and is even the national bird of Israel. Beautifully carved, these ceremonial masks are used by ancestor worshiping Ivory Coast tribes to show respect for the departed and to allow safe passage and a welcome into the spirit world.