Dogon Wood Mask, Mali

In Dogon ceremonial life, a mask is not worn. It is danced.

Masks are central there, appearing at funerals and at the rites that send the souls of the dead to the ancestors. This one, carved of wood in Mali in the 20th century, is long and rectangular with a rounded dome at the top, a central ridge, and two rounded lugs at the upper corners. Two tall, pointed openings for the eyes are divided by a narrow vertical ridge. Below, a straight bar suggests the mouth.

The dark surface has worn through in many places to lighter wood. Thirteen inches tall.

Spare. Severe. Hard to look away from.