Mossi mask, Burkina Faso Wood, vegetable... - Lot 78 - De Baecque et Associés

Lot 78
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
Mossi mask, Burkina Faso Wood, vegetable... - Lot 78 - De Baecque et Associés
Mossi mask, Burkina Faso Wood, vegetable fibers, pigments H. 130 cm approximately Provenance: Mia Van Bussel, Amsterdam Joaquin Pecci, Brussels Acquired from the latter by the current owner, French private collection Since the 1930s, the arts of Burkina Faso have been represented in a non-exhaustive way in the collection of the Musée de l'Homme, notably through the collections of ethnologists or administrator-ethnologists such as Henri Labouret. Shaped by and for local beliefs, they were conceived and created by the tengabisi, "children of the earth". The sukomse, located in the southwestern part of the Mossi cultural area and including a wide variety of styles, belonged to a highly secretive congregation of initiatory character whose manifestations were linked to rites of passage, in particular male initiations and funerals of notables. Until now, these rites and processions have never been documented by direct observation, photographs or films by a non-initiated person. This form of resistance to the external gaze and to change characterizes the tutelary spirit evoked by the general aspect and the decoration of the mask which has kept its beard, its headdress, in their entirety, forming a set that is too rarely complete. Of elongated rectangular shape, simple and uncluttered, the mask covered with white pigments, is absolutely devoid of elements characterizing the face, devoid of features, except for the eyes signified by two series of elongated vertical cavities whose perimeter is enhanced with red pigments. Sobriety at its peak, questioning its expressiveness, certainly linked to mystery, to secrecy, which are thus accentuated. In contrast to this disconcerting, astonishing and superb simplicity is the richness of the abundance of the beard made up of braided, rolled and rubbed vegetable fibers, some of which have a natural tone, others having been colored with a past red. A large and high headdress, from the back of which a horn is suspended, enlivens the whole.
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