A Superb N’Mba (Baga) Figure

A Superb N'Mba (Baga) Figure

Baga Peoples, Guinea

H: 37 in, W: 17 in, D: 20 in.

Material: wood

The most important of the Baga art forms is the great mask, D’Mba or N'Mba. It represents the mother of fertility, protector of pregnant women, and presides over  agricultural ceremonies. The exaggerated, pendulous breasts are typical for this mask, which has a double function; sterile women in the Simo society invoked it as a goddess of fertility, and it was used at the first-fruit rituals; symbolically associating female fertility with the increase of the grain. This type of mask is used by the dancers at birth, marriages, harvest festivals and other joyful ceremonies.