Mali

Red Monkey mask

The Dogon people, Mali. 20th century

Wood, carved and ti nted.

30 × 19 × 6 cm. lnv. No. 5001 II

Donated in 1972 by V. Budantsev. First publication.

The Dogon people, who live in Mali on the Bandiagara plateau in the bend of the Niger, have maintained their traditional culture to this day. Their world-famous masks are characterized by a large variety of iconographic types and by a specific style whose distinctive features are a geometrical stylization and marked plasticity of forms, and a certain crude expressiveness.

The Red Monkey mask consists of the oval-shaped mask proper, with deep hollows in lieu of the cheeks and rectangular apertures for the eyes, and a monkey on top of it. The mask is a rare specimen of the "red monkey" iconographic type. Such masks (with red, white and black monkeys) are associated with funeral rituals.