Wooden mask: local name 'satimbe'. The lower section is a wooden rectangular base with two eye holes. It is decorated with pink, green, and yellow paint on a white base. It has a mouth, but no hole in this area. On top of the base is a black wooden figure of a woman who is wearing a green fibre skirt and wrist bands. She also has a white beaded necklace. She has red lips, and cowrie shells around her hair line. She has fibrous hair that also forms a mohican crest. At the top of the mohican crest there are multicoloured beads linked together with a piece of string. She also has a nose ring, lip ring, and lots of ear rings. There are strings attached to the base of the mask, forming a netting that enables the mask to be worn.
The Satimbe mask joins one of the most well-known groups of Dogon masks (cf Kanaga, Sirige, Walu…). It is one of two masks that represent women, and this one refers to female ancestors. Apparently, the name satimbe means ‘superimposed sister’ (referring to her position on top of the mask). The woman represented is the Yasigine – the only woman allowed to be a member of the Awa society. It is said that she represents the first mythological women to have discovered masks. Ref: Le Musée National du Mali (1993: 85)
