H x W x D: 127.5 x 42.5 x 69.5 cm (50 3/16 x 16 3/4 x 27 3/8 in.)
Type:
Mask
Geography:
Guinea
Date:
19th-early 20th century
Label Text:
The D'mba mask represents an ideal woman who has nurtured many children. Carried on the shoulders of a male dancer, the mask is balanced on four supports that are concealed by an imported cotton cloth shawl and raffia fiber skirt. While performances vary somewhat from community to community, D'mba generally appear at planting and harvest festivals, births, weddings and ceremonies to commemorate ancestors and to honor visitors.
Modern Guinea uses the mask's image widely as a national symbol because of the visual impact of its large size and distinctive profile with strongly curved nose, chin, breasts and shoulders. This contrasts with the careful detailing of the hairstyle and the incised linear patterns on the face and breasts.
Description:
Wood yoke or shoulder mask with rectangular eye holes between flattened pendant breasts; cylindrical neck with cylindrical projection from back of neck; curved jaw and projecting 1/4 circular nose, blank almost semicircular eyes, cylindrical mouth, pprojecting C-form ears; raised block pattern bands on face, neck and chest, incised chevrons in hair; projecting sagittal crest hairstyle. There are small circular holes for attachments through the nostrils, and top, back and bottom of ear, as well as in each support. The mask has an overall dark brown surface.
Provenance:
Henri Kamer, Paris/New York, before 1955
J.J. Klejman, New York, 1955 to 1959
Jay C. Leff, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 1959 to 1984
Elliot Lawrence, New York, 1984 to 1992
Merton Simpson, New York, 1992
Armand Arman, New York, 1992 to 1998
Exhibition History:
From Baga to Yoruba: Treasures of African Art, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan, November 5, 2006-January 28, 2007
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
Africa Gallery, Dayton Art Institute, January 18, 2003-April 2004 (loan not extended)
Recent Acquisitions 2000, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 13, 1999-January 24, 2000
Arman and l'art Africain. Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, Amérindiens de Marseilles, June 23-October 30, 1996; Museé des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, December 3 1996-February 17, 1997; Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, March-June 1997; Brussels, unspecified dates; New York, unspecified dates
The Art of Black Africa: Collection of Jay C. Leff, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October 24, 1969-January 18, 1970
Exotic Art, From Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff, Carnegie Institute, Department of Fine Arts, Pittsburgh, October 15, 1959-January 3, 1960
Published References:
Carnegie Institute, Department of Fine Arts. 1959. Exotic Art, From Ancient and Primitive Civilizations: Collection of Jay C. Leff. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, no. 235.
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art. 1969. The Art of Black Africa: Collection of Jay C. Leff. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, no. 65.
Musées de Marseille. 1966. Arman and l'art Africain. Marseille: Reunion des musées nationaux, p. 53, no. 2.
National Museum of African Art. 2006. BIG/small Family Guide. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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