Bamana Segou region, Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel

Male Face Mask (N'tomo)

INV-8679

Bamana Segou region, Mali Northern Africa and the SahelLate 19th or early 20th century

Male Face Mask (N'tomo)

Bamana Segou region, Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel →

bamanaArts of Africaafrican ArtNorthern Africa and the Sahelmaskswood

Date

Late 19th or early 20th century

Medium

Wood and metal

Dimensions

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

Museum

Art Institute of Chicago

Location

Chicago, IL

Credit

African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund

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.

Also notable

Works in the same vein

Pair of Headdresses (Tyi Wara Kunw)

Bamana Baninko region, Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel

Zoomorphic Figure (Boli)

Bamana Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel

Helmet Mask (Kono Kun)

Bamana Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel

Female Face Mask

Bamana, Marka, or Sorogo Eastern Segou region, Mali Northern Africa and the Sahel