The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of March 29, 2024
Helmet Mask (tönköngba or tabakän)
early 1900s
Overall: 76.2 cm (30 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1969.3
Location: 108A Sub-Saharan
Description
It seems that this type of object--once used among various peoples in the region--could have served both as a shrine and as a dance headdress. It would only have been part of a dance when a sacrifice to the ancestors was needed, at a funeral, or during a male initiation. Despite obvious animal references, the type represents an invented composite being that some described as a creature of the sea.- Katherine White Reswick
- Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 5, p. 40 - 41Robbins, Warren M. African Art in American Collections = L'art Africain Dans Les Collections Americaines. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1966. Reproduced: p. 71, no. 50Robbins, Warren M. African sculpture. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2005. Reproduced: p. 71, no. 50Curtis, Marie Yvonne. Baga. Milan, Italy : 5 Continents Editions, 2018. Reproduced: p. 91, pl. 25; mentioned: pp. 46, 125
- Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).CMA 1970: "Year in Review 1969," CMA Bulletin LVII Jan., 1970), p. 47, no. 127, repr. p. 38.CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 45, repr.
- {{cite web|title=Helmet Mask (tönköngba or tabakän)|url=false|author=|year=early 1900s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.3