Very beautiful wooden mask typical of the Bété ethnic group of Côte d'Ivoire

Height: 33 cm, width: 19 cm, age cracks (see photos)

The Bété ethnic group

About five hundred thousand Bété live in the center-west of Côte d'Ivoire. They live in villages run by the oldest members of the most important family. Formerly hunters, they now live from agriculture.

Religion, omnipresent in the life of the Bété, manages the daily life of men and provides solutions to the various problems of daily life (health, social disorder, etc.); it helps maintain a harmonious relationship between nature and the ancestors, responsible for the wealth of the tribe.

Bété masks

Bété sculptors are renowned for their masks with exaggerated features that were once used to prepare men for war; nowadays, they are worn during a number of masquerades and ceremonies organized, without religious purpose, by initiated men of the tribe.

They can, for example, appear at night, during funeral rites or a lifting of mourning; on this occasion, the wearer of the mask holds a spear in his right hand that recalls his original warrior function.

Variants of the name Bété

Depending on the sources, multiple variants are observed: Bèti, Bètia, Betegnan, Bété, Bétés, Bokya, Kpwe, Magwe, Shien, Shiens, Tsien