The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Mask with stylized almond-shaped face, three circles stacked on either side of an silver strip of a nose and a black square for a mouth. Nine posts fork out from the top, each alternating between bands of brown wood and silver metal. Where the posts meet the face is adorned with silver geometric shapes.

Mask (n'tomo)

c. 1930

Africa, West Africa, Mali, Bamana-style or Malinke-style blacksmith-carver

Wood, aluminum, copper alloy, animal hair, and steel
Overall: 62.2 x 23 x 15.3 cm (24 1/2 x 9 1/16 x 6 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1994.14
Location: 108A African

Did You Know?

This wood and metal mask was worn with a cloth costume; together, it was considered a "full body mask."

Description

Malinke is the term used for Islamic Bamana speakers in Mali. Although Muslim, the Malinke have retained traditional initiation societies responsible for training boys to fulfill their adult roles. Masking performances and other techniques are used to instill self-awareness, discipline, and sacred knowledge in young men. Aluminum, which first became available with the advent of airplanes, enriches the mask’s surface with cut and stamped geometric shapes.
  • ?–1995
    (Bellas Artes Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1995–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions to the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection,” August 26, 1994, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Petridis, Constantine, "Celebrating Bamanaya", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 02, February 2006 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8-9 archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Mask (n'tomo)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1930|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1994.14