Strongly Graphic Mossi Mask

This mask, with its strong, contrasting graphic quality, was stored for forty-five years. Like similar examples (see the Anthrozoomorphic Mossi Mask and the Rooster-Human Mask), this Mossi mask combines both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements. Thomas G. B. Wheelock writes in Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso that Mossi masks represent totems of different lineages. “These totems are generally different animal species, but in some cases are humans, or spirits with human or animal attributes who played central roles in the myth of origin of the lineage.” A similar Mossi mask in rooster form appears on page 403 of Wheelock’s book and is attributed to the Ouagadougou style. These masks were used in performative rituals such as masquerades. 

14″

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