Bamana N'tomo Mask with Five Horns Mali

Overall Condition: Good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.

Damage/Repair: Worn surface on the back of the mask, small crack on the face, few other small cracks, see photos for details.

A superb mask presenting multiple horns and a Chi wara icon on the forehead. This is a Bamana mask of N'tomo. Bamana N'tomo (N'Domo) masks serve to protect young boys during their first initiation cycle before circumcision. The number of horns makes reference to specific characteristics of males (three or six horns) or females (four or eight horns) and the androgynous (two, five, or seven). It would be danced by mature men to protect the boys and it would also be worn by the boys as they would dance and test one another. Ntomo maskers wear simple cotton costumes, sometimes with raffia attached, and they test one another by striking each other with sticks to develop forbearance in future life.