5 - [AFRICA - ETHNOLOGY] GRIAULE, Marcel. Dogon Masks.

[AFRICA - ETHNOLOGY] GRIAULE, Marcel. Dogon Masks. First edition of this seminal work. Paris, Institute of Ethnology - Musée de l'Homme, 1938. Quarto, publisher’s fir-green percaline Bradel binding, plain spine with title running lengthwise. VIII, 896, 32 plates of photographic reproductions at the end, 261 figures in the text. Minimal scuffing on the binding; edges browned. First edition published in the collection *Travaux et mémoires de l'Institut d'Ethnologie* (Volume XXXIII). The result of the Dakar-Djibouti expedition (1931–1933), this fieldwork of unprecedented scope laid the essential foundations for understanding the statuary art of the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali. In this comprehensive ethnographic study, Marcel Griaule (1898–1956) compiles a scientific inventory of 78 different types of masks (human, animal-shaped masks such as the bovine Yougo Na) and demonstrates that the Dogon mask is not merely a decorative object but a sacred sculpture embodying a spiritual force (the Nyama), indispensable during the spectacular ceremonies marking the end of mourning (the Dama). A very complete copy of its rare cardboard flip chart. This interactive tool features, on both sides, the rhythmic and choreographic notations for the “Kagandige Dance” and the “Gona Dance of the Kanaga Mask.” In fine condition.