Mossi Rooster Mask, Burkina Faso - PROVENANCE Thomas Wheelock Collection #702

Mossi Rooster Mask, Burkina Faso - PROVENANCE Thomas Wheelock Collection #702Mossi Rooster Mask, Burkina Faso PROVENANCE Thomas Wheelock Collection #702 Mossi Mask combining anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements. Though this piece appears to be more used, it is similar to the Rooster Human Mask. Thomas G. B. Wheelock writes in Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso that Mossi masks represent Totems of Different Lineages. These totems are generally different Animal Species, but in some cases are humans, or

• Mossi Rooster Mask, Burkina Faso - PROVENANCE Thomas Wheelock Collection #702
• Mossi Mask combining anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements. Though this piece appears to be more used, it is similar to the Rooster-Human Mask. Thomas G. B. Wheelock writes in Land of the Flying Masks: Art and Culture in Burkina Faso that Mossi masks represent Totems of Different Lineages. “These totems are generally different Animal Species, but in some cases are humans, or Spirits with human or animal attributes who played central roles in the Myth of Origin of the Lineage.” A similar Mossi Mask in Rooster form appears on page 403 of Wheelock’s book, and is attributed to the Ouagadougou Style. These masks were used in Performative Rituals.
• Condition: an old and weathered Cap Mask has been painted with mineral pigments in black and white and accented with incised linear scarification patterns.
• Mossi peoples, Burkina Faso, West Africa.
• Measurements: 14 x 7 x 6 inches.
• Provenance: The Thomas Wheelock Collection, New York. Co-Author of the definitive book on Burkina Faso Arts "Land of the Flying Masks".