Hyena mask ·  Burkina Faso, Winiama · ID: 3040987

Description

wood, red and black paint, kaolin, eyes in concentric circles, accentuated cut geometrical patterns, painted in traditional colours in red, white and black, wart-like projections, slightly dam., minor missing parts, abrasion of paint;
like the bush pig, the hyaena performes separately from the other animal spirits, which despise it for its “dirty habits”. All the animal masks represent bush spirits and have a protective function.

The object Hyena mask with the object ID 3040987 was last part of the auction 84th Tribal Art Auction at November 5, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 174.

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, Art of the Upper Volta Rivers, Paris 1987, p. 222