A Mossi Karan-wemba mask

A Mossi Karan-wemba mask, Burkina Faso, with a female figure crested atop the mask. Signs of ritual use and age, certificate of origin and provenance.

Masks such as this are danced at funerals in highly acrobatic, dramatic performances designed to emphasize their sculptural height. Among the Mossi, widows who have raised their children and have returned to the households of their father’s family are known as wemba. They are honored as living ancestors and are believed to have a direct line to the spirits of the family forebears. When these women die, masks such as this one, known as "karan-wemba," (wemba mask) perform at their funerals to honor them. Source: Saint Louis Art Museum

Lit.: Christopher D. Roy/Thomas G.B. Wheelock: Land of the Flying Masks. Art and Culture in Burkina Faso. The Thomas G. B. Wheelock Collection, Prestel 2007; Tiziana & Gianni Baldizzone: Die Regenmacher. Maskenzauber und Stammesriten, Paris 2020; Till Förster: Skulptur in Westafrika. Masken und Figuren aus Burkina Faso. Sammlung "Burkina Faso" aus dem Morat-Institut für Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft, Freiburg im Breisgau, Bremen 1995.

Height: 116 cm
Weight: 4,5 kg incl. stand