Dogon Healer Mask, Mali, Early 20th Century

Dogon Healer Mask This captivating mask presents a remarkable sculptural architecture. The massive head, with marked angles and cubist volumes, attracts the eye with its eyes set in two concave rectangles, separated by a straight column that gives rhythm to the whole with a quiet force. Topped with a circular plate, sublimated by six male and female figures in the round, forming a balanced and evocative composition. These angular lines and geometric patterns give it a singular beauty, between abstraction and tradition. Wood with old patina with signs of use, pigments and brown vegetable or mineral gum. Some small chips and marks of time. Dogon, Mali, early 20th century Dimensions: 44 x 21 x 22 cm Provenance: Galerie Pierre Robin, Paris, 1990s Sold with certificate of authenticity from the expert Serge Reynes. * Shipping costs on estimate. Bibliography: for a copy very close to this one. This dance mask embodies the role of protection and care within the community. Intended to ward off illness and preserve collective balance, it reflects the spiritual and medicinal practices of the Dogons, where the healer, also seen as a sorcerer, uses plants and ancestral knowledge to heal. The six figures in a circle, posed, could represent apprentice healers or mythological figures associated with healing rituals. This composition recalls the Dogon statuettes often placed on altars, emphasizing the link between this mask and ritual practices aimed at invoking the protection of spirits. In Dogon culture, masks are not simple ceremonial objects but sacred tools, used to establish a link between the visible and the invisible.