Skip Navigation

Personal Miniature Mask (Ma Go)

Arts of Africa

Small, personal masks function as amulets among the Dan and neighboring cultures, linking the owner with a particular spirit force that provides assistance and protection. Normally, they are kept hidden and brought out only during special rituals. When the owner travels, he carries the mask and might occasionally show it to indicate his association with a personal guardian spirit.
CULTURES Dan or Mano
MEDIUM Wood, organic matter, fiber or feathers
  • Place Made: Liberia
  • DATES 19th or 20th century
    DIMENSIONS 4 3/4 x 3 x 2in. (12.1 x 7.6 x 5.1cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1995.7.28
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Blake Robinson
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Oval human face. Protruding face with double ridge along center. Eye area at base of forehead obscured by organic matter. Ears (semi-circular) protrude at eye level. Nose slopes upward, tip 1/2" long. Down-turned mouth, protruding lips. Pointy chin. CONDITION: Overall dirt and abrasions. Possible insect damage along one edge. Fibers or feathers embedded in two places, near eyes and near one ear. Chips on rear or both ears. Two holes on edges just above ear level (one hole through, other hole clogged).
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Dan. Personal Miniature Mask (Ma Go), 19th or 20th century. Wood, organic matter, fiber or feathers, 4 3/4 x 3 x 2in. (12.1 x 7.6 x 5.1cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Blake Robinson, 1995.7.28. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.7.28_front_PS6.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 1995.7.28_front_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.