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avec Hoopoe |
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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. |
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