Antelope dance crest "adone" · Burkina Faso, Kurumba · ID: 3037062
Robertson, New York, USA
Description
wood, matt brown patina, black, red and white paint, painted with zigzag-patterns, forming triangular compartments dyed in black and decorated with white dots, elongated stylized forms, see holes, drilled holes for attachment, old rep. (breakages at snout and base, fixed by metal clamps), cracks (above all at the base and at the back of the neck), base;
such masks were used during major events associated with funerary rites and commemoration of the ancestors. The mask represents the heroic antelope that played an important role in the myths of the founding of the clan, when it saved the life of the founding elder. The “protective antelope” functions as the totem animal of most Kurumba clans.
Comparing literature
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 357