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Lot Essay
Chez les Dogon, les masques surmontés d’une figure féminine sont appelés satimbe, en hommage à une femme mythologique à qui l’on attribue la découverte et le premier port du masque. Selon la tradition, son époux se serait emparé du masque et, dès lors, les femmes auraient été interdites de le porter ou même de le toucher. Marcel Griaule, dans ses travaux fondateurs consacrés à la culture dogon (Conversations with Ogotemmêli, Vanves, 1948), souligne l’importance du satimbe en tant que figure charnière reliant mythe, rituel et organisation sociale : bien que les femmes soient généralement exclues de la manipulation des masques, le satimbe incarne les yasigne, ou « sœurs du masque », c’est-à-dire les femmes nées durant le cycle du sigi, cérémonie majeure célébrée tous les soixante ans et commémorant l’apparition de la mort parmi les humains. Les yasigne sont les seules femmes autorisées à s’approcher des masques et à prendre part aux performances, incarnant la présence protectrice et spirituelle attachée à la figure du satimbe. Dans le cadre de ces danses, le satimbe exprime une féminité idéalisée qui, tout en demeurant discrète, affirme une forme d’autorité au sein d’un univers autrement réservé aux hommes, tout en rappelant le mythe fondateur qui introduisit les femmes dans la tradition des masques.
À la différence des autres exemples de satimbe, ce masque ne se contente pas de représenter une figure féminine fortement stylisée : il s’en distingue de manière tout à fait singulière par l’accent mis sur sa fonction maternelle, clairement signalée par le jeune enfant qu’elle porte sur son dos.
Among the Dogon, masks surmounted by female figures are called satimbe, in honor of a mythological woman who is said to have first discovered and worn a mask. According to tradition, her husband seized the mask, and from that time on women were forbidden from wearing or touching masks. Marcel Griaule, in his seminal studies of Dogon culture (Conversations with Ogotemmêli, Vanves, 1948), notes the satimbe as a key figure linking myth, ritual, and social regulation: although women are generally excluded from handling masks, the satimbe represents the yasigne, or “sisters of the mask,” women born during the sixty-year sigi festival, a major ceremony that commemorates the appearance of death among humans. The yasigne are the only women permitted to approach the masks and participate in the performances, embodying the protective and spiritual presence of the satimbe figure. In these dances, the satimbe conveys an idealized femininity, quietly asserting authority within a domain otherwise reserved for men, while also commemorating the foundational myth that first introduced women into the mask tradition.
Unlike other examples of satimbe, the present lot depicts not only a highly stylized female figure but, distinguishing it entirely from other known works, emphasizes her maternal function, as indicated by the small child she carries on her back.
À la différence des autres exemples de satimbe, ce masque ne se contente pas de représenter une figure féminine fortement stylisée : il s’en distingue de manière tout à fait singulière par l’accent mis sur sa fonction maternelle, clairement signalée par le jeune enfant qu’elle porte sur son dos.
Among the Dogon, masks surmounted by female figures are called satimbe, in honor of a mythological woman who is said to have first discovered and worn a mask. According to tradition, her husband seized the mask, and from that time on women were forbidden from wearing or touching masks. Marcel Griaule, in his seminal studies of Dogon culture (Conversations with Ogotemmêli, Vanves, 1948), notes the satimbe as a key figure linking myth, ritual, and social regulation: although women are generally excluded from handling masks, the satimbe represents the yasigne, or “sisters of the mask,” women born during the sixty-year sigi festival, a major ceremony that commemorates the appearance of death among humans. The yasigne are the only women permitted to approach the masks and participate in the performances, embodying the protective and spiritual presence of the satimbe figure. In these dances, the satimbe conveys an idealized femininity, quietly asserting authority within a domain otherwise reserved for men, while also commemorating the foundational myth that first introduced women into the mask tradition.
Unlike other examples of satimbe, the present lot depicts not only a highly stylized female figure but, distinguishing it entirely from other known works, emphasizes her maternal function, as indicated by the small child she carries on her back.