early/20th century, Liberia/Ivory Coast, carved wood of unknown origin, darkened surface on front,  with holes around edges, eye holes, inscribed "112" on the inside, 10 x 7 x 4 in.

Provenance: Richard Blackwell Smith, Washington, D. C.; by descent to Private Collection, Durham, North Carolina

Note: This mask is one of the legendary group collected by Dr. George Harley (1894-1966), an anthropologist and medical missionary to Liberia in the early to mid-20th century. Dr. Harley's early work regarding traditional Liberian tribes is perhaps the most extensive research done on these tribes. He is most known for the over 1,000 masks he collected during his time there, many of which can be found in museum collections, including the Cleveland Musuem of Art and the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. The holes surrounding the edges of this mask are for attaching fibers and beads to make hair or a beard and attaching capes and headdresses  The delicate carvings along the face likely represent the ritual scarification practiced at the time. This particular mask was given to Blackwell Smith, relative of the current owner, by Dr. Harley in 1947.

This lot is accompanied by three publications: "Masks as Agents of Social Control in Northeast Liberia" by George. W. Harley, 1950.

"Notes on the Poro in Liberia" by George W. Harley, 1941.

"The Harley Masks of Northeast Liberia" by Louis T. Wells, Jr., 1977.

This lot  is also accompanied by an extensive collection of historic black and white photos of Liberia at the time, taken by Dr, Harley and others, an example of which can be seen here.