Mask
20th century
Object PlaceMali
Medium/Techniquewood, paint, beads, metal cords
DimensionsOverall: 95 x 67.5 x 14 cm (37 3/8 x 26 9/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2606
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMasks
Collections
This mask, called a Satimbe, represents the yasagine. The yasagine is a small group of Dogon women that have been initiated into the Awa society, the society of men responsible for performing masquerades. They represent the group of women that, in Dogon origin stories, discovered masks. Men then took control of the masks and barred women, with the exception of the yasagine, from participating in masking rituals.
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)
