Hide-Covered Mossi Doll with Coin Earring

This fabulous, hide-covered doll is published as item #503 in Thomas G. B. Wheelock’s Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso. It hails from the Kaya Region in the North Central part of the country. Wheelock speculated that the wet strips of skin were interlaced around the doll and allowed to shrink-dry, dressing the doll to a beautiful effect. This is arguably the most finely wrought example of woven hide covering among all of Wheelock’s Mossi dolls, both published and unpublished. The coin hanging from the doll’s left ear is a French 5-centimes piece dated 1924.

7″