No. MUS2026-381
Dogon Ireli miniature imina na
Mali · Ireli, Bandiagara Escarpment · West Africa
Restricted
imina na
Source term: Bullroarer
imina na: mother mask or great mask in the collector's record.
Small enough to look almost modest, this slat from Ireli, on the Bandiagara escarpment, still has its cord. Its name was larger than it: imina na, the mother or great mask. It sounded at men's funerals, as a warning in the nights of the Dama, and at the Sigi, when three instruments made three notes together.
Particulars
- Object
- A small 220 × 55 × 8 mm senge-wood slat with its cord still attached.
- Function
- The collector's record calls it the mother or great mask and connects its sound to men's funerals, Dama night warnings and Sigi initiation in groups of three notes.
Source
Horniman Museum 2000.46; senge wood and cord; 220 × 55 × 8 mm