Vase with abstract bird motif by André Bioley 1950's Harris Cies handcrafted studio abstract vase Height -11 inches Dan mask detour In 1907, Picasso's fortuitous wrong turn at the Musée d’Ethnographie in Paris, led him to the sacred Dan masks of West Africa, which had a profound influence on his artistic vision. He later stated that ‘Painting isn’t an aesthetic operation,’ ‘It is a way of seizing the power by giving form to our terrors as well as our desires. Men had made these masks and other objects for a sacred purpose,