Kanaga mask
20th century
Object PlaceMali
Medium/Techniquewood, paint, rope, nails,
DimensionsOverall: 94 x 48.5 x 16 cm (37 x 19 1/8 x 6 5/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2605
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMasks
Collections
The meaning of Dogon masquerades and masks has been open to much speculation. Kanaga masks are among more than seventy-eight different Dogon mask types, ranging from animals and humans to abstract configurations that performed during complex funerary rituals organized by Ava (or Awa), a men's society. They facilitated the transition of the deceased into the realm of ancestorhood. Kanaga masks can be identified by their double-cross superstructure and small vertical appendages.
ProvenanceGeneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
