Fragment of a mask "kanaga" ·  Mali, Dogon · ID: 3033259

Description

light brown wood, matt patina, black encrusted paint, of narrow form with a highly abstract face, superstructure in form of a double cross missing, missing parts through insect caused damage, cracks;
the “kanaga” mask can be interpreted in different ways: crocodile, creator genius, but also “bird in flight”. According to the latter interpretation it represents the bird “kommolo tebu” with spread wings and black and white plumage, when after its shooting the hunter carved the first “kanaga”.

The object Fragment of a mask “kanaga” with the object ID 3033259 was last part of the auction 70th tribal art auction at September 8, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 98 achieved a sales price of EUR 350.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.

Comparing literature

Laude, Jean, African Art of the Dogon, New York 1973, ill. 91