Guinea, Baga people
Dance mask of the Simo Society (Nimba)
Late 19th­early 20th century
Carved wood
119.4 x 33 x 61 cm
W. G. Field, and Edward E. Ayer funds given in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson, 1957.160

This wooden mask represents Nimba, the goddess of fertility among the Baga people of Guinea on the west coast of Africa. During ritual dances after the rice harvest, a male dancer wears a mask such as this over his head. The mask’s weight rests on the dancer’s shoulders, and he also wears a wide skirt woven of plant fibers. The dancer sees out through a slot between the breasts of the figure.