Zoomorphic mask "sukun" ·  Mali, Bamana · ID: 3035938

Description

wood, brown patina, oval form with protruding forehead and pointed chin, tusk-like appendage underneath the nose, rep. (breakage at the righ backside), small missing parts (back), slight traces of abrasion, base;
this mask may represent a stylized horse. However, its structural components can also be interpreted as a synthesis of several animals. It features an interesting device running from the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the face. The exact use or meaning of this enigmatic structure is unknown.

The object Zoomorphic mask “sukun” with the object ID 3035938 was last part of the auction 75th tribal art auction at November 30, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 242.

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Comparing literature

Bourgeois, Arthur & Scott Rodolitz, Remnants of Ritual, New York 2003, p. 2, ill. 5