Initiation mask - Cloth, Seeds, Wood - karanwenba - mossi - Burkina Faso

FUNCTION: initiation mask of passage to adulthood, corresponding to an age class of 7 years. POPULATION: Mossi from Burkina Faso, region of Yatenga. MATERIAL: dry polychrome wood with a top head-decoration of Biga dolls smeared with kaolin and red seeds around the eyes. DIMENSIONS: 78 cm high. DESCRIPTION: typical of the Mossi masks with a diamond-shaped base, highlighted with geometric motifs and an important head decoration; on the front, there are two horns symbolising the antelope and on the backside there is a horizontal support with two Biga dolls. STATE OF PRESERVATION: ancient traces of wear, without break nor performed restorations. ORIGIN: collected in situ, object of the Compaoré family, transmitted by descent, around 1950/1960. Careful shipment via registered express parcel (Colissimo) , including a certificate with a picture and the abovementioned description of the Farafi gallery, specialist in Arts of west Africa, for more than twenty years.