{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"The John B. Elliott, Class of 1951, Collection","caption":"Artist unrecorded, Bamana, Mali, Western Africa, Suruku (hyena) mask, late 19th–20th century. Wood, colorant, and organic material; 50.3 × 15.6 × 17.7 cm. The John B. Elliott, Class of 1951, Collection (1998-913)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2042394,"culture":"Bamana"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2054791,"term":"sculpture","aatid":300047090,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2048754,"term":"ceremonial objects","aatid":300234117,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2100254,"term":"social status","aatid":300065206,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2134778,"term":"initiations","aatid":300069180,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2197880,"term":"societies","aatid":300026009,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2129353,"term":"masks (costume)","aatid":300138758,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2049655,"term":"woodwork","aatid":300015348,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2042394,"term":"Bamana","aatid":300015848,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2088270,"term":"men","aatid":300025928,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2168157,"term":"colorant","aatid":300013026,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2156347,"term":"carving","aatid":300053149,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2164667,"term":"organic material","aatid":300011792,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Mali","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Western Africa","country":"Mali","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2453866/republic-of-mali.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"50.30"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"15.60"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"17.70"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1998-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":22875,"displayname":"Artist unrecorded","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1934,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Masks","packages":[{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":282738,"name":"Bingo_Animals"},{"packageid":223066,"name":"Gallery_31_African"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2054791,"classification":"sculpture"},{"id":2129353,"classification":"masks (costume)"},{"id":2048754,"classification":"ceremonial objects"},{"id":2049655,"classification":"woodwork"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[{"id":14517,"culture":"Bamana","alphasort":"Bamana","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Bamana","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/1998-913"],"displaytitle":"Suruku (hyena) mask","displayculture":"Bamana","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","captionhtml":"Artist unrecorded, Bamana, Mali, Western Africa, <i>Suruku (hyena) mask</i>, late 19th–20th century. Wood, colorant, and organic material; 50.3 × 15.6 × 17.7 cm. The John B. Elliott, Class of 1951, Collection (1998-913)","displaydate":"late 19th–20th century","medium":"Wood, colorant, and organic material","media":[{"id":24250,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/1998-913","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Bruce White Photography"},{"id":498,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/1998-913_GS","isprimary":0,"rank":4,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Luna Digitization Project"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 148","date":2013,"id":1994,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/865020505"},{"boilertext":"\"Selected checklist of objects in the collection of African art,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 77–83.","citation":"\"Selected checklist of objects in the collection of African art,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 77–83., p. 77","date":1999,"id":3043,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774794"},{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 148 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"},{"boilertext":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>","citation":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>, p. 62","date":2002,"id":3025,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774767"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","dateend":1997,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Suruku (hyena) mask","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"1998-913","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"John B. Elliott (1928-1997), New York, NY by 1997; bequeathed to the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 1998.","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"With its stylized, domed forehead, crest between pointed ears, long nose, and rectangular mouth, this hyena mask of the Kore, a high-ranking initiation society in Bamana culture, epitomizes the strong geometric forms prized by European collectors of African art in the mid-twentieth century. Kore society members participated in ceremonies to maintain harmony between humans and the natural world, assigning different animals to carry out various functions. For example, the hyena protected the secrecy of the society’s rituals. When this mask entered the art market, a dealer likely removed encrustations that had accumulated from use during rituals and polished its surface. This intervention, which was likely undertaken to emphasize the mask’s abstract formal elements, produced the dark patina that is visible today.\n","remarks":"AFR_31_WLA.pdf - Day 1 installation"}],"datebegin":1870,"sortnumber":"1998  913","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:51:12.553694","objectid":36802,"dimensions":"50.3 × 15.6 × 17.7 cm (19 13/16 × 6 1/8 × 6 15/16 in.)","on_view":true}