A fine Dogon face mask

satimbe, of hollowed rectangular form, the pierced eyes framed by a trident of deep grooves with pointed ears to the sides and surmounted by a standing female figure with bent legs, a tall rectangular body, full breasts and square shoulders with arms held out to the sides, the elongated neck supporting the helmet-shaped head; '118' in pigment on the lower mask and base; fine aged and heavily encrusted surface decorated with black and white pigment.

Acquired from Galerie Kamer, New York, May 19, 1965

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Public Museum, Selections from The William W. Brill Colllection of African Art, May 5 - August 31, 1969 (for additional venues see bibliography )

Cf. Vogel and N'Diaye (1985: 60) for a closely related mask from the Sanga Village from the collection of the Musée de l'Homme, acquired on the Dakar-Djibouti expedition 1931-1933.

The satimbe mask is identified by the presence at the crest of the woman representing Yasiguini. She discovered the materials used to construct masks and gave them to Andoumboulou, who are the spirits created by the god Amma. This type of mask is the Dogon replication of the original mythic mask created by Andoumboulou in which the woman was depicted at the top and consecrated as Yasiguini (ibid. : 124).