Bobo Mask IV
Burkina Faso
A plank mask constructed on a horizontal axis, the form extending laterally from a central facial register into a continuous winged plane.
Description
Carved from a single wood block, the central face is contained within a circular field, defined by concentric ring eyes, a short cylindrical nose projecting forward, and a circular mouth with internal cut-through elements. The facial field is densely worked with repeated triangular incision. From this central register, the form extends outward into broad lateral wings, slightly arcing and thinning toward the edges, forming a continuous horizontal plane.
Surface is compact and stable. A checkerboard pattern is retained across the reverse of the lateral sections. Pigment is retained across the central facial field, lateral wings, and reverse checkerboard decoration; exposure at raised elements.
Context
Among the Bobo, masks of this type are used within agricultural and initiation structures.
Provenance
From the Felice Maffei Collection, acquired in Burkina Faso, 1972.
Details
- Title
- Bobo Mask IV
- Culture
- Bobo
- Origin
- Burkina Faso
- Date
- 20th century
- Dimensions
- H 141 cm (55.5 in) · W 29 cm (11.4 in) · D 20 cm (7.9 in)
- Medium
- Wood, pigment
- Provenance
- From the Felice Maffei Collection, acquired in Burkina Faso, 1972.
- Condition
- Surface stable; exposure at raised elements.
