DOGON MASK
USD 960.00
Material | Wood
Origin | Africa
Period | Mid 1900s
Dimensions | W15cm D22cm H39cm
Product Number | #0134
Description | This African Dogon mask is one of many stylistic variations of dogon masks, icons of dogon tribal art. Angular features, a soaring nose, hollowed-out eyes in triangles, protruding lips and a figurative crest, carved from a dense, grainy wood that bears the imprint of time and the various libations administered to it. Crusty heterogeneous patina. The Dogon are a people renowned for their cosmogony, their esotericism, their myths and legends. their population is estimated at about 300,000 souls living southwest of the Niger Loop in mali's Mopti region (Bandiagara, Koro, Banka), near Douentza and part of northern Burkina (northwest of Ouahigouya). Villages are often perched atop scree at the hillside, according to a unique architecture. The history of migration and the dogon facilities (about ten main groups, fifteen different languages) relates to several hypotheses. Some historians believe that the Dogons fled an area west of their present location as a result of an assault. More than eighty types of African masks are listed among the Dogon, the best known of which are the Kanaga, Sirige, Satimbe, Walu. Most of them are used by the circumcised initiates of the Wa society during funeral ceremonies. The Awa refers to the masks, their costumes, and all the Dogons in the service of masks. Some evoke animals, in reference to the rich cosmogony and mythology of African dogon art. The 'nyama', the life force of the mask, is activated by different rituals in order to develop the full magical potential of the object.