Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Headdress (Shoulder Mask); Female Bust (D'mba)
Alternate Title:
Nimba Mask
Image View:
View from back showing braided hairstyle with crest
Creator:
unknown (Baga sculptor)
Location:
repository: Musée Picasso [Paris] (Paris, Île-de-France, France) MP3637
Location Note:
From Africa to the Americas: Face-to-Face Picasso, Past and Present (2018 exhibition)
Date:
ca. 1890-1920 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Baga; Guinean
Style Period:
Baga
Work Type 1:
ceremonial mask
Work Type 2:
sculpture (visual work)
Work Type 3:
headdress
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
wood; plant fibers (raffia)
Technique:
carving (processes)
Measurements:
126 cm (height) x 59 cm (width) x 64 cm (depth)
Subjects:
recreation and games; festivals; Masks; Performing arts; Picasso, Pablo; ritual object; African; dance; women; Guinea
Description:
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)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module D: World Art
Identifier:
7A3-AFRICAN-FAFFM-DM B-A04
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Headdress (Shoulder Mask); Female Bust (D'mba)