Mask (Ntomo society)

19th-20th century

Boys wear masks as part of their training in a sequence of Bamana societies. Ntomo masks are surmounted with horns and are said to begin a life long process of acquiring knowledge. Nearly every Bamana male had to pass through six initiation societies to acquire a comprehensive awareness of ancestral traditions.

Wood, metal, and pigment

22 7/16 x 10 11/16 x 5 5/8 in. (57 x 27.2 x 14.3 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.16

Provenance: [Gallery K, Los Angeles, California]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1975; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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