D'mba
/ˈdəm.bɑː/noun
A monumental female fertility mask and ritual figure associated especially with the Baga people of Guinea.
Did you know?D'mba masks represent an idealized ancestral mother and were traditionally worn in community ceremonies, especially by male dancers who carried the massive headdress on their shoulders.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Baga
D'mba
“A ritual female figure associated with motherhood, fertility, and social well-being.”
19th–early 20th century
Baga traditions
D'mba
“A large headdress used in ceremonial performance and communal rites.”
Early 20th century
French ethnography
D'mba
“A name recorded for a Baga mask or masquerade figure in present-day Guinea.”
20th century
English
D'mba
“A Baga mask type recognized in writing on African art and anthropology.”
Modern English
English
D'mba
“A culturally specific African ritual mask, also associated in scholarship with the name Nimba.”