D’mba mask

This back mask, obtained from a single block and decorated by carving and excision, portrays the goddess Nimba, propitiator of fertility and was used by the Baga Ethnos (Guinea) during the ceremonies connected to sowing and harvesting rice.  The upper part, with a male head and female bust, summarises the wild fecundating power of the goddess, the bestower of children and abundant harvests.  The lower part consists of four legs which supported the mask on the back of the dancers covered by a large fibre mantel, so that the complex mask-man exceeded two and a half metres in height.