Face mask "karan-wemba" of the "wango" society · Burkina Faso, Mossi · ID: 3046184
Christie’s Paris, 11 December 2014, Lot 133
Lucien van de Velde, Antwerp, Belgium
Description
wood, pigments, mass, original repairs (chin), base
This mask was danced at the funerals of highly esteemed women. The mask honors a woman whose great age, wisdom, and experience elevated her to the rank of a living ancestress, an ideal intermediary between the living and the spirits of the family’s ancestors.
The appearance of the mask should not only honour her, but also the female progenitor and founder of the clan, who is embodied by the female figure on top of the mask.
The object Face mask “karan-wemba” of the “wango” society with the object ID 3046184 was last part of the auction 93rd Tribal Art Auction at November 16, 2019 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 112 achieved a sales price of EUR 8,000.
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.
Expertise
Marc Ghysels, 27 Juillet 2011, Brussel, Belgium (Tomodensitometric study with X-ray scanner)
Comparing literature
Roy, Christopher D., Land of the flying masks, München 2007, ill. 122 ff
Publications
AHDRC: 0122455