Male Face Mask (N'tomo)

Description

This mask depicts a young man with an elongated face in a style that originated in the Segou region. Adolescent males danced with masks like this during their initiation into Ntomo, the first in a series of power associations that Bamana boys joined when they transitioned from youth to adulthood. The images on this mask of an antelope and two female figures encouraged young men’s prowess in farming and courting, respectively.

Provenance

Henri (died 1992) and Hélène (ex-Kamer) Leloup, Henri A. Kamer Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1960 [Zahan 1960, pl. 3C, object listed as Collection Henri Kamer]; sold to the Art Institute, 1961 [purchase consideration documentation in object file].

Male Face Mask (N'tomo)

Bamana

Late 19th or early 20th century

Accession Number

86791

Medium

Wood and metal

Dimensions

79.4 × 22.9 × 22.2 cm (31 1/4 × 9 × 8 3/4 in.)

Classification

masks

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund

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