Dogon Sirige or Dama Dance Mask

Nearly thirteen feet of plank, and the face sits at the very bottom.

This sirige or dama dance mask is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, mid 20th century, in pigment on wood with rope. The sirige is among the tallest of Dogon masks, associated with dama, the rites that close a period of mourning, where a dancer swings its height through wide arcs. A small boxy face with rectangular openings anchors the base. From it rises a narrow plank, pierced with barred openings between hourglass panels of ochre, white and brown. A tuft of red rope tops it off. 154 inches high.

It needs a tall room and a respectful distance.