Details

Title

Female Figure from a Karan-Wemba (Living Ancestress) Mask

Artist/Maker

Mossi Artist (Burkina Faso)

Date

sixteenth century

Medium

Wood and iron

Dimensions

Contact the museum for more information

Credit

Purchase through funds provided by the Richman Special Initiatives Endowment, Judy and Scott Lampert, Pamola and Guy Lescault, Barbara and Bert Levy, Barbara and Laurence Murphy, and Friends of African Art

Accession #

2016.205

Location

On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway, Gallery 410

This dynamically carved figure was commissioned to honor a woman who had outlived her husband and attained the rank of “living ancestress,” a beacon of wisdom. Worn with a fiber costume, the mask—understood as an active entity—performed at the funeral of the ancestress and at subsequent commemorative festivals to promote communal well-being.

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