Mask (gle)
The lowered eyes, once highlighted with fine white clay, combine with delicately formed nostrils, closed lips, and smooth cheeks to create an idealized beauty. The fiber hair frames the face, and the metal hook on the chin holds a costume securely around the lower edge of the mask, hiding the masquerader’s own face. The specific nature of each gle, meaning both "mask" and "spirit," was inspired by a dream that appeared to the performer. The naturalistic style of this gle, though worn by a man, makes it likely that it was accompanied by gentle feminine movements and may have been associated with boys’ training in the ways of adulthood. Over time, a gle’s role could change, perhaps moving from serving an important function to a mask used for entertainment.
Beginning in the 1930s, Dan, Mano, and Kono families sold masks like this one to raise funds for tax payments and other needs during a period of economic and political turmoil in northern Liberia. This mask and one other in the MFA collection (2019.1800) were purchased by Dr. George Harley, a medical missionary who lived in Ganta, Liberia, from 1926 to 1960. For many years, he recorded what he was told about the original use of masks, their local names, and places of origin, as well as the prices he paid and why the owner was interested in selling. Many of Harley's notebooks can be found in the archives of the Harvard Peabody Museum. Harley wrote additional information in pencil on the back of this mask, which is now only partially legible.
