Bird- or butterfly mask ·  Burkina Faso, Bwa · ID: 3033138

Description

wood, encrusted patina, polychrome paint, of broad, elongated form, concentrical eyes flanking a hook-shaped nose, an open worked circular mouth below, geometrical incisions, surmounted by three separatly carved figures (two birds, one animal head), min. dam., fissues, minor missing parts, traces of abrasion;
the bird masks and butterflies are the most abstract, consisting of a broad, horizontal plank, decorated with large concentric patterns. The mouth projects from the centre and there is a large hook representing the hawk’s beak or circles representing the patterns on the butterfly’s wings.
Without knowing the context it is not possible to distinguish which bird, a hawk or a vulture, is the inspiration for this mask.

The object Bird- or butterfly mask with the object ID 3033138 was part of the auction 70th tribal art auction on September 8, 2012. The object with the lot number 101 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,600 with an asking price of EUR 1,500.

You can find more Masks and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.

Comparing literature

Roy, Christopher D., Land of the flying masks, München 2007, ill. 145