Mask "dyodyomini" ·  Mali, Dogon · ID: 3039481

Description

light brown wood, partly encrusted patina, kaolin, black paint, of slender elongated form with deepened rectangular eyes, a long horn-like projection emerging from the forehead, crowned by a sitting female figure, pierced around the rim, dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, rep. (leather strips), cracks, paint rubbed off, base;
this hornbill mask is also named “picoreur” which is the french translation of the word hornbill. The carvers of Dogon masks wore their own masks during ritual performances. The costume consisted of fibers covering nearly the whole body. The mask should catch and control the vital force, which could become dangerous when being allowed to roam around.

The object Mask “dyodyomini” with the object ID 3039481 was last part of the auction 81st Tribal Art Auction at October 31, 2015 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 185.

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

Imperato, Pascal James, Dogon cliff dwellers, New York o. J., p. 34, ill. 3 Bilot, Alain, Masques du pays Dogon, Paris 2001, p. 125

Publications

Gallery DeRoche, San Francisco, 1995, Absentee Auction, lot 3; van de Velde, Lucien & Joanna Teunen, Traditional Art from the West African Savanna, Antwerp 2010