Object Details
- Label Text
- This mask, combining human facial features with a chin in the form of a bird's beak, is very rare. It was probably worn over the face at an angle so that the wearer could see out of the small rectangular opening beneath the nose.
- Although worn by a man, this mask was probably associated with the Menda, an organization of middle-aged adults led by women. The last known Menda initiation ritual employing such masks supposedly occurred in 1935.
- Description
- A wooden anthropo/zoomorphic face mask with prominent forehead, elongated nose and a pointed chin that, when viewed in profile, appears as a beak. The head is decorated with alternating painted black and white triangles and a red band running along the median plane of the skull and another along the brow line. A broad black band defines the area of the temples and cheeks and the top of the nose and mouth. Thick black dots are applied in an irregular pattern across the rest of the face. Short recessed lines form the eyes and each cheek is marked with a pair of vertical lines representing scarification. The mask was probably worn over the face at an angle so the wearer's eyes would be aligned with the rectangular aperture beneath the nose.
- Provenance
- French colonial official, Conakry, Guinea, 1930s
- His son, an unnamed French surgeon
- Pierre Robin, -- to 1990
- Merton Simpson Gallery, New York, 1990 to 1991
- Donald Morris Gallery, 1991
- Margaret H. Demant, Huntington Woods, 1991 to 1999
- Published References
- Lamp, Frederick. Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention. New York: Prestel for The Museum for African Art, 1999, p. 128, no. 104.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Baga artist
- Date
- Early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Gift of Margaret H. Demant in memory of Steven Demant
- Medium
- Wood, pigment, nails
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 57.6 x 20.8 x 21 cm (22 11/16 x 8 3/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Mask
