Helmet Mask (a-Ròng-a-Thoma)

early 20th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

The a-Ròng-a-Thoma mask represents a fantastical male water creature that resembles a hippopotamus, with ram horns, huge conical nostrils, and a large, open jaw baring teeth. The raffia costume consists of a short, thick fringe (still attached here), a long cape, a skirt, and pom-poms worn on the feet, all dyed a dull red. Several è-Ròng-è-Thoma may appear during an evening performance following the coronation of a chief, at the funeral of a chief, at a sacrifice to the community’s ancestors, or at a welcoming celebration honoring important visitors.

Medium

Ricinodendron wood, raffia, metal, and pigment

Dimensions

12 1/2 × 18 1/2 × 20 in. (31.8 × 47 × 50.8 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Osborn for the Linton Collection of African Art

Accession Number

1955.61.19

Geography

Guinea Coast, Sierra Leone

Culture

Temne

Period

20th century

Classification

Masks

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
The Cranmore Ethnological Museum, Chislehurst, Kent, England [see note 1]; sold to Kenneth Macgowan (1888–1963), 1938; sold to Ralph C. Altman, Los Angeles, CA; sold to Dr. Ralph Linton (1893–1953), by 1953 [see note 2]; by descent to his wife, Adelin Hohlfield Linton (1899–1977); sold to Marie-Louise Montgomery Osborn (1905–1968) and James Marshall Osborn (1906–1976), 1954; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.,1955

Note 1: The Cranmore Ethnographic Museum was established by Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1881–1939) and his wife Irene Marguerite Beasley (1882–1974) in 1928.

Note 2: Ralph Linton was the Sterling Professor of Anthropology at Yale from 1946 until his death in 1953.
Bibliography
  • Frederick John Lamp, "Hot Space, Cool Space: The Reinstallation of the African Art Collection in the Louis Kahn Building at Yale University," African Arts 40 (Summer 2007), Cover, 42, 44–45, fig. 9, 14
  • Frederick John Lamp, "The Royal Horned Hippopotamus of the Keita of Temne: A-Ròng-a-Thoma," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2005), 36–53, ill. cover, ill
  • Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), 148, no. 258
  • Susan Vogel, Mary (Polly) Nooter Roberts, and George Nelson Preston, Sets, Series and Ensembles in African Art, exh. cat. (New York: Museum for African Art, 1985), 39, no. 13
  • Ralph Linton, The Linton Collection of African Sculpture: An Exhibition, March 13 through April 18, 1954, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1954), no. 97, ill
Object copyright
Copyright Undetermined
Additional information

Object/Work type

ceremonial objects, masks (costume)

Subject

hippopotamus (genus) men rams (animals)

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