Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART: Headdress (Shoulder Mask); Female Bust (D'mba)
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Collection:
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ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART
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Preferred Title:
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Headdress (Shoulder Mask); Female Bust (D'mba)
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Alternate Title:
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Nimba Mask
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Image View:
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Overall side view; mask sits on the shoulders of the wearer
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Creator:
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unknown (Baga sculptor)
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Location:
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repository: Musée Picasso [Paris] (Paris, Île-de-France, France) MP3637
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Location Note:
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From Africa to the Americas: Face-to-Face Picasso, Past and Present (2018 exhibition)
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Date:
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ca. 1890-1920 (creation)
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Cultural Context:
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Baga; Guinean
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Style Period:
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Baga
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Work Type 1:
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ceremonial mask
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Work Type 2:
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sculpture (visual work)
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Work Type 3:
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headdress
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Classification:
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Sculpture and Installations
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Material:
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wood; plant fibers (raffia)
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Technique:
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carving (processes)
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Measurements:
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126 cm (height) x 59 cm (width) x 64 cm (depth)
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Subjects:
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recreation and games; festivals; Masks; Performing arts; Picasso, Pablo; ritual object; African; dance; women; Guinea
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Description:
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This wooden headdress, formerly owned by Pablo Picasso, is known as D'mba among the Baga peoples of the Guinea coast. D'mba's flat, pendant breasts are a symbol of motherhood and reveal the selfless dedication with which she has nursed numerous children to adulthood. Her coiffure consists of intricately braided rows of hair and a high crest down the center. This hairstyle is not a characteristic of the Baga, but rather one of the Fulbe people, who inhabit the Futa Jallon mountains, where the Baga ancestors once lived. The coiffure serves as a reminder to the Baga of their origins in the Futa Jallon. During performances, the massive headdress is worn supported on the shoulders with a costume of raffia and cloth. D'mba is not a "spirit," but instead is loosely described by the Baga themselves as simply an "idea." D'mba is an abstraction of the ideal of the female role in Baga society. (Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art [website]; http://www.metmuseum.org)
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Collection:
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Archivision Adjunct Module D: World Art
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Identifier:
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7A3-AFRICAN-FAFFM-DMB-A02
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Rights:
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© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
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