The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2019

Face Mask

early-mid 1900s

Western Sudan, Mali, Dogon, early-mid 20th century

Wood

Overall: 111.1 cm (43 3/4 in.)

James Albert and Mary Gardiner Ford Memorial Fund 1960.169

Location

not on view

Description

Dogon masks are worn at the end-of-mourning ceremonies called dama. The masks incarnate ancestors, which can be human, animal, or vegetal. The female figure with raised arms topping this example represents the mythical character Yasigine, who played a key role in the very first sigi celebration. Held every 60 years, the sigi ceremony commemorates the arrival of death.

Provenance
(Pierre Matisse Gallery, NY, to 1960)
Citations
Robbins, Warren M. African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1966. Reproduced: p. 55, no. 22
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 302 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 302 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 410 archive.org
Robbins, Warren M. African sculpture. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2005. Reproduced: p. 55, number 22.
Exhibition history

CMA "Year in Review" 1960: Bulletin, 47 (December 1960), p. 250, no. 11, repr. p. 246.

Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1960.169