Africa, West Africa, Mali, Dogon-style blacksmith-carver / early 1900s
Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro)
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Mask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro) as mask (Africa, West Africa, Mali, Dogon-style blacksmith-carver · early 1900s).
The long-armed figure at the top of this mask is omono , a white-bellied monkey.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this mask as Wood and paint.
The museum's collection notes: Dogon masks can be interpreted on two fundamentally different levels: “front speech” ( giri so ) reflects an early stage of knowledge and consists of a tale that is intended to arouse curiosity; and “speech of the world” ( aduno so ) refers to Dogon cosmogony, reserved for highly instructed men and women. Masked dances have recently been organized in Dogon regions for tourists and dignitaries. The character of omono is a rare one among the 80 or so that appear in Dogon masquerades.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtMask (Omono or Tana Wurum Bogoro)Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.