Burkina Faso, Black Volta River region
Bwa

Wood, fiber, pigment
ca. Early – Mid 1900s
Height: 22.24in; Width: 18 in
Other – Regalia – Mask

A hand carved and hand painted nature spirit mask of the Bwa people in Burkina Faso.   This mask shows symbolic geometric patterns arranged in circular friezes engraved on the flat surface of the circular mask.  The polychrome painting features burgundy red, with a white kaolin on dark brown coating and a powdery texture.  Worn as a mask, the open mouth allows the dancer to look through the hole while dancing.

This very rare decorative nature mask represents two Bwa mask categories.  First is the hawk-mask category, represented by the conical open mouth, two sets of concentric circles for eyes, and the outwardly projecting curved beak.  However, it is without wings, characteristic of the hawk mask.  Second is the circular sun-mask category, danced to celebrate the farming season, representing the sun, necessary with rain and the earth for growth.  According to the provenance statement this mask was collected mid-century by two schoolteachers who spent many years teaching abroad in Burkina Faso and the mask is not a modern-day reproduction.  Signs of usage and aging are also evident.

According to ‘Animal Masks of Black Africa’ ed. Sepia: “The Bwa believe in a god Difini, creator of the world, who later abandoned it to his son Do.   Do, whose emblem is an iron rhomb named alive, is supposed to intervene during funerals and agrarian rites.”  The two symbolisms represented in this mask.