Mask with Standing Figure
Museum Rietberg, Zurich
Used by the Mossi this mask is completely made of wood with an oval face section, and bisected by a notched
ridge. It has two triangular eyes and two sets of animal horns. The mask
embodies a merging of both human and bush powers, and suggests that human,
perhaps ancestral powers may be dominant. The human or animal figures are
thought to be “totemic” meaning they are representing sacred characters that
participated in origin legends told by the clans or families that own the mask[1]. They also represent nature spirits responsible for the protection of the land
and people. This mask was danced at burials, funerals, agricultural rites, and other
important events such as blood sacrifices to ancestors for the well being of the
clan.
[1]Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 160.
[1]Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 160.