Face mask of the Do society (Do muso)

Metal masks are a rare sight in Africa, as are masks made for Islamic observances. Here both factors combine as the horns of a ram or goat crown a woman's face on a mask that emerged during ceremonies marking the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

Tin-lead alloy

10 7/16 x 5 5/8 x 2 15/16 in. (26.5 x 14.3 x 7.5 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.263

Provenance: [Stolper Galleries, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryLos 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., pp. 133-5, reproduced pl. 172 (as "do" mask).

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