REGION: Africa
COUNTRY: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
YEAR PRINTED: 1960
VALUE: 5 West African CFA francs
This stamp is one of a set of nine celebrating the traditional masks of the Côte d’Ivoire, issued in the year of its independence from French colonization. This specific stamp represents a helmet mask of the Senufo ethnic group, called wanyugo. Double-faced wanyugo masks such as these are used together with single-faced kponyugo masks by the all-male Poro Society during funerals of important tribal leaders and at purification ceremonies.
