Dogon Artist
Late 19th-early 20th century
Monkey Mask
Mali
Wood
Mali
Wood
Height: 12 inches (30.5cm)
This Dogon mask with its bulging forehead and long jaw depicts the black monkey and is considered predatory. Originally it had dark fiber that hung to the wearer's knees. During...
This Dogon mask with its bulging forehead and long jaw depicts the black monkey and is considered predatory. Originally it had dark fiber that hung to the wearer's knees. During performance, the mask wearer sits to the side and may make obscene gestures. The character's conduct and persona are based on the monkey, which poses a threat to farm crops and exhibits, in appearance and behavior, traits that seem to be a perverted exaggeration of humans, totally lacking the restraint and order of socialized man.
Provenance
Ex Collection Albert F. Gordon, New York, ca. 1970sEx collection Dr. Gilbert Graham, Long Island, NY, ca. 1982
Ex collection Mauricio Lasansky, Iowa City, Iowa