The presented Satimbe mask of the Dogon people belongs to a well-known category of ritual masks from the Bandiagara Plateau region in Mali. It is carved in wood and typologically surmounted by a female figure, the defining feature of Satimbe masks, which visually articulates one of the central Dogon mythological narratives: the role of women as mediators in the origin and transmission of masquerade knowledge. The sculpted female figure—often shown standing upright, sometimes with raised arms—acts as an emblem of Yasigine (or Yayemme in variant traditions), a mythic female ancestor associated with the earliest revelation of masked performance to the Dogon Awa society. Incl stand. Within Dogon ritual life, Satimbe masks are performed primarily during dama funerary ceremonies, where masked figures guide the soul of the deceased from the village into the realm of the ancestors. In this context, the Satimbe mask does not merely function as an aesthetic object but as a performative and cosmological device. It mediates between visible and invisible worlds and symbolically re-enacts the foundational moment when women, though excluded from masquerade societies, are nonetheless acknowledged as the originators of sacred knowledge. Stylistically, the mask is characterized by a flattened facial plane with geometric simplification of features, typically including rectangular or slit-like eyes and a strong vertical nasal ridge. The superstructure with the female figure creates a vertical extension that transforms the mask into a hybrid sculpture, combining face and body into a single architectural form. This verticality reinforces its ritual visibility during dance performances, where the mask is animated through movement, costume, and rhythm. The Satimbe type is also significant in art historical discourse because it foregrounds gendered symbolism within Dogon visual culture. Unlike many other African masking traditions that emphasize animal spirits or abstract forces, the Satimbe explicitly encodes social memory, myth, and gender relations into figural sculpture. This makes it an important object not only within ethnographic collections but also within broader discussions of performative sculpture and narrative iconography in African art.