Dan Wood Passport Mask, Based

Calm. That is what the Dan do with a face.

The Dan of Liberia are celebrated for masks of calm, idealized beauty, and this passport mask, carved in wood in the 20th century, keeps that quiet poise. In West Africa masks are held as sacred objects, used in rituals, ceremonies and initiations, and often handled only by initiated individuals. The face is a smooth, tapering oval with large round eye openings, a small rounded nose and full, projecting lips framing a narrow slit mouth. Small holes along the edge show where attachments were once fixed.

A deep, glossy black patina. Eleven inches high, on a dark wooden base.

It keeps its own counsel.