Tall Early 20th C. African Mossi Wood Karanga Mask

**Originally Listed At $650**

West Africa, Burkina Faso, northern Yatenga region, Mossi peoples, ca. early to mid-20th century CE. A hand-carved wooden Karanga mask of a tall form with a projecting top finial bearing red and white pigments as well as openwork ovoid motifs. The ovoid mask exhibits a slender nose with several horizontal incisions, a pair of egg-shaped eye holes, concentric vertical lines and a register of triangular motifs on the peripheries, a narrow wooden bite bar across the carved-out verso, and a pair of integral wooden antelope horns protruding from the smooth brow. The tall finial bears similar triangular motifs and decorative pigments that are mirrored on the reverse. The Mossi word for 'mask' is wango; however, the designation as a Karanga mask stems from the oval face, plank-form finial, and antelope horns. Size: 6.75" W x 70.5" H (17.1 cm x 179.1 cm)

A strikingly similar example of a Karanga mask hammered for EUR 1,880 ($2,027.81) at Christie's, Paris "Art Africain, Oceanien et Precolombien" auction (sale 5094, December 8, 2004, lot 121).

For another stylistically similar example, please see The Brooklyn Museum, accession number 1992.74.1

Provenance: ex-private old New England, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s

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#154328
Condition Report: Area of repair to topmost corner of finial with small chips and light adhesive residue along break lines. Abrasions and chips to plank, mask peripheries, and verso, with light fading to original pigmentation, softening to some finer details, and inactive insect damage. Nice patina and great traces of original pigment throughout.