A clearly very old ‘Hare mask’ or ‘Deer Mask’ of the Dogon, from the Bandiagara Escarpment in eastern Mali. This ‘Gomintogo mask’ represents one of the approximately 80 mask types of the Dogon. Carved from light-coloured wood, with high ‘rabbit ears’, pointed crown of head, deep-set, triangular eyes and long, narrow nose. Mouth and chin are small, round and protruding, as are both cheeks. The mask is white-primed, and accentuated with red and black dots. The chin projection was probably broken very early on, and somewhat later added on. An early, vertical loss on the side of the left cheek at the back, with original repair (‘sewn’ with fine wire and cotton thread), as well as two small breaks due to age and minor cracks.
The holes for affixing the mask costume show very old traces of usage (partly broken off due to long use), as well as holes on both sides below, for a ‘bite bar’ with which the dancer fixed the mask in front of his face. An unusually old piece with very good usage patina on its surface, on the edges and especially on the inside at the back. Height: 42 cm; width: c. 14.5 cm. First third of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
German private collection.

Lit.:
‘Dogon’ by Hélène Leloup, ill. 80; ‘Art of the Dogon’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Lester Wunderman Collection), ill. 27; ‘Die Kunst des schwarzen Afrika’ by Kerchache, Paudrat, Stephan, ill. 285.