Mask (Ndomo)

19th century

Bamana, African

On View

African: Journey of Life, Level 1, North Wing

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About the Artwork

This well-documented mask was once worn in performances conducted by the N’domo, the first of several initiation associations in Bamana culture tasked with guiding the development of men from youth to old age to insure an ordered community life. All Bamana males receive a six-stage social and religious instruction. The first stage, or N’domo, lasts approximately five years and culminates in boys’ circumcision. The N’domo mask is said to depict primordial man in his uncircumcised, androgynous state.

In its most basic form, the N’domo mask depicts a human face topped with a side-to-side row of vertical horns, which number from four to eight. The antelope adorning the top of this mask is framed by two female figures and the ends of its horns are connected, an extremely unusual iconography in Bamana sculpture. This rare mask is from the Segou region of southern Mali.

From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Mask (Ndomo)

Artwork Date 19th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. African

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Bamana

Medium Wood

Dimensions Overall: 34 inches (86.4 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Museum Purchase, Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2014.39

Markings

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Provenance

(Christie's, New York, New York, USA);
2014-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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