Bolo Mask

early 20th century

Eyelashes give this mask a surreal sense of being very human. It is not seen by the Bobo as an actual person, but a messenger from the son of the divine creator who relies on masked characters to keep the chaos that humans create under control. Masks come to reflect on the struggles of the year. In performance, the masker spins, charges around, and literally lifts the mask above his head for a rapid rotation. It reminds viewers of the role played by the blacksmiths of the community who carve the masks, often perform them, and maintain supernatural knowledge.

Wood, hair, resin, and pigment

19 3/16 x 9 15/16 x 13 in. (48.7 x 25.3 x 33 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.87

Provenance: [Stolper Galleries, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1962; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Not currently on view

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. 33 (as Human Mask).

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. 123, reproduced fig. H-7 (as mask).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection, July 29 - Sept. 29, 1984 (Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 31, 1984 - Feb. 25, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Apr. 6 - May 19, 1985; Fort Worth, Texas, Kimbell Art Museum, Sept. 7 - Nov. 25, 1985; Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Mar. 8 - Apr. 20, 1986). Text by Pamela McClusky. Cat. no. 32, pp. 72-73, reproduced (as Mask (bolo)).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Disguise: Masks and Global African Art, June 18 - Sept. 7, 2015 (Los Angeles, California, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Oct. 18, 2015 - Mar. 13, 2016; Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Museum, Apr. 29 - Sept. 18, 2016).

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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