Mask (vaca bruto, dugn'be type) / Artist Unknown, African, Bijogo Peoples Guinea Bissau
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1984/1.273
- Title
- Mask (vaca bruto, dugn'be type)
- Artist Nationality
- Guinea-Bissauan
- Medium and Support
- wood, glass, paint, metal, animal horns
- Object Creation Date
- 1925-1975
- Object Creation Place
- Africa (continent)
- Guinea-Bissau (nation)
- Bijagós, Arquipélago dos (island group)
- Creation Place 1
- Africa (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Guinea-Bissau (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Bijagós, Arquipélago dos (island group)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Avery Z. Eliscu
- Dimensions
- 31 cm x 59 cm (12 3/16 in. x 23 1/4 in.)
- Century
- Mid-20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Costume and Costume Accessory
- Primary Object Type
- mask
- Physical Description
- Naturalistic cow’s head of carved from wood with eyes cut from the bottoms of glass bottles. Natural cow horns are attached. Head is predominantly black with white triangle on forehead, red pigment surrounding eyes, red in interior of ears, white chin, and white dots on cheeks and in red ground around eyes. Horns are white, tipped in black; a fiber cord runs through its nostrils and around back of head.
- Subject Matter
- This is one of several types of bovine masks ( called vaca-bruto or “wild cattle” in Creole, the lingua franca of Guinea Bissau) performed at boys and men’s initiation ceremonies, festivals and national holidays. This particular mask is called dugn’be, which represents a domesticated ox and is danced by adolescent boys newly initiated into their age grade.
- Secondary Keywords
- animals and creatures
- ceremonies
- costume
- costume by function
- cultural ceremonies
- events
- mammals
- masks (costume)
- objects we use
- people and culture
- rites of passage
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1395 x 947
- File Size
- 102 KB
- Record
- 1984/1.273
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1984-sl-1.273/1984_1.273.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1984-SL-1.273:1984_1.273.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Mask (vaca bruto, dugn'be type); Artist Unknown, African, Bijogo Peoples Guinea Bissau." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1984-sl-1.273/1984_1.273.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 17, 2024.
