Bird- or butterfly mask · Burkina Faso, Bwa · ID: 3035430
Swiss Private Collection
Description
wood, polychrome paint, of broad, elongated form, the actual facial features in the middle, geometrical incisions on front and back side of the mask, rep. (crack at the left side, breakage at the beak), cracks, small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
the bird and butterfly masks are the most abstract mask forms. The mouth projects from the centre and there is a large hook representing the hawk’s beak and 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 3035430 was last part of the auction 74th tribal art auction at September 7, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 60 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,300.
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