Head of the Komo (Komo-ku)

"Exquisitely horrorific" is what Patrick McNaughton, an American scholar, calls this mask type. A Bamana sculptor-blacksmith, Sedou Traore, said, "The Komo mask is made to look like an animal. But it is not an animal; it is a secret."

Aggressive features from several animals are brought together while a crusty assemblage of medicines cloaks the mask in ritual protection.

The unexpected often happens during Komo performances. Saboteurs are likely to set traps in the performer's path or place deadly powders on the wings of insects and unleash them in Komo's midst. Despite constant obstacles, Komo sings and dances throughout the night. In a distorted voice, Komo sings of illness, crop failure, social discontent, and other bad fortunes. One short excerpt serves to chastise those worried about their destiny:

all mornings don't bleach the same way.
A man may walk
then finish by crawling in the world
all days don't bleach the same way
Man's hope is man.

(Recorded by Patrick McNaughton, 1979)

Wood, horn, porcupine quill, hair, metal, pigment, and encrustations

23 1/4 x 32 3/4 in. (59.06 x 83.19 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.18

Provenance: Acquired by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1967 (location unknown); bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 14.

Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., p. 151, reproduced fig. K-11 (as "komo" mask).

Published ReferencesMellor, Stephen P. "The Exhibition and Conservation of African Objects: Considering the Nontangible." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, vol. 31, no. 1 (Spring 1992): pp. 3-16, reproduced figs. 3, 4.

Brett-Smith, Sarah. "The mouth of the Komo." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 31 (Spring 1997): pp. 71-96, reproduced fig. 2.

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