Zoomorphic mask "karan-wemba"
Michael Rhodes, New York, USA
Adrian Schlag, Brussels, Belgium
Brian S. Leyden, New York, USA
American Private Collection
Description
wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, fabric, oval facial plane with circular see holes, crowned by board-shaped superstructure with free standing female figure, the back originally provided with a dowel, which is inserted through the sides of the mask and is gripped between the dancers teeth, min. dam., small missing parts, cracks, insect caused damage (back), traces of abrasion;
both the Mossi in Yatenga and the Dogon in Burkina Faso and Mali carve masks like this one with the figure of a woman above the face of the mask. This is because they share common ancestors. Dogon masks represent “yasigine” or “satimbe”, an elder woman who has experienced two “sigui” ceremonies sixty years apart and who is the only female member of the mask society. For the Mossi these represent a woman who has married, had children and grandchildren, and, whose husband having died, has returned to the home where she grew up. There she is regarded as a living ancestress, and when she dies her funeral is celebrated with a mask like this example.
Comparing literature
Roy, Christopher D., Land of the flying masks, München 2007, ill. 122 & 124 Roy, Christopher, Art of the Upper Volta Rivers, Paris 1987, p. 121, ill. 88Publications
AHDRC: 0139727