Africa | Mali
Dogon Mask
Mali
Gomintogo mask
Carved wood and pigments
Early 20th century
Height: 16 in. (41 cm)
Ex collection Gustau Gili, Barcelona
Ex collection David Serra, Barcelona
Ex private collection, Paris
Gomintogo Dogon mask 41 cm / Galerie Flak
On request
This classical Dogon mask called Gomintogo combines refined carving and power of evocation.
Gomintogo is a mythical cervid (antelope). Marcel Griaule (Mission Dakar Djibouti) stated in the 1930s that gomintogo was possibly the first mask carved by the Dogon.
According to a myth collected by Griaule, a cervid once devastated a farmer's fields and ate all the crop. The farmer eventually captured the animal. The soothsayers then instructed the farmer to carve a mask in the image of the animal to protect his fields from future attacks of the animal spirit (nyama).
Gomintogo is a mythical cervid (antelope). Marcel Griaule (Mission Dakar Djibouti) stated in the 1930s that gomintogo was possibly the first mask carved by the Dogon.
According to a myth collected by Griaule, a cervid once devastated a farmer's fields and ate all the crop. The farmer eventually captured the animal. The soothsayers then instructed the farmer to carve a mask in the image of the animal to protect his fields from future attacks of the animal spirit (nyama).
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