Rabbit Mask (walu)
Artist Unidentified
20th century
Object PlaceMali
Medium/Techniquewood, paint, metal
DimensionsOverall: 36 x 16.5 x 13 cm (14 3/16 x 6 1/2 x 5 1/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2608
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMasks
Collections
The meaning of Dogon masquerades and masks has been open to much speculation. There are more than seventy-eight different Dogon mask types, ranging from animals and humans to abstract configurations. This rabbit mask is among several types of Dogon masks that represent animals of the hunt. In Dogon cosmology, it is the rabbit that ate the first crops planted by the fox. Along with the monkey mask, the rabbit mask represents animals that pose a threat to crops.
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)
