Cassandra D'Cruz
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Lot 65W
Bwa Water Spirit Mask, Black Volta River Region, Burkino Faso
13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$21,250 inc. premium
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Bwa Water Spirit Mask, Black Volta River Region, Burkino Faso
nwantantay
height 72 3/8in (183.8cm)
Provenance
Jacques Ulmann, Paris
Jean Louis Picard, Paris, October 11 - 12, 1993, Lot 18
Lance Entwistle, London and Paris
American Private Collection
As noted by Christopher Roy, "The most impressive Bwa masks are the great plank masks, named nwantantay in Boni and Dossi. These are carved on two basic patterns: the majority of plank masks consist of a large oval facial area with a protuberant round mouth through which the performer can see. Below the mouth are three black leaf shapes (triangles), and above are two great target eyes. the face is connected to the plank by a diamond or lozenge from which protrudes a downward-curving and very prominent hook [the present work having an old indigenous repair]. The plank is a large, vertical rectangle marked with geometric patterns in black and white, and sometimes red [as in the present work]. This is, in turn, surmounted by a large crescent with the opening turned up. [. . .]
[. . .] All masks are covered with geometric patterns that are very similar to patterns used by the Mossi and the gurunsi. The geometric patterns represent the scars worn by men and women. The most prominent and ubiquitous of these scars is the 'X' or cross on the center of the forehead. The Bwa also use the 'Voltaic target motif', black-and-white checkerboards [representing the separation of knowledge from ignorance], crescents, zigzags [possibly representing the skeleton of the sacred serpent], systems of black and white triangles, curving lines, and lozenges, all colored with natural red, white, and black pigments. As elsewhere in the central Voltaic area, these geometric patterns comprise a system of signs and symbols used in initiations." (Art of the Upper Volta Rivers, Alain et Françoise Chaffin, Paris, 1987, pp. 274-76)
In addition to the design patterns mentioned above by Roy, the present work is decorated overall on the reverse side of the plank with the checkerboard pattern; exquisite encrusted painted surface with an indigenous repair to the prominent hook element, each indicative of significant cultural use.
height 72 3/8in (183.8cm)
Provenance
Jacques Ulmann, Paris
Jean Louis Picard, Paris, October 11 - 12, 1993, Lot 18
Lance Entwistle, London and Paris
American Private Collection
As noted by Christopher Roy, "The most impressive Bwa masks are the great plank masks, named nwantantay in Boni and Dossi. These are carved on two basic patterns: the majority of plank masks consist of a large oval facial area with a protuberant round mouth through which the performer can see. Below the mouth are three black leaf shapes (triangles), and above are two great target eyes. the face is connected to the plank by a diamond or lozenge from which protrudes a downward-curving and very prominent hook [the present work having an old indigenous repair]. The plank is a large, vertical rectangle marked with geometric patterns in black and white, and sometimes red [as in the present work]. This is, in turn, surmounted by a large crescent with the opening turned up. [. . .]
[. . .] All masks are covered with geometric patterns that are very similar to patterns used by the Mossi and the gurunsi. The geometric patterns represent the scars worn by men and women. The most prominent and ubiquitous of these scars is the 'X' or cross on the center of the forehead. The Bwa also use the 'Voltaic target motif', black-and-white checkerboards [representing the separation of knowledge from ignorance], crescents, zigzags [possibly representing the skeleton of the sacred serpent], systems of black and white triangles, curving lines, and lozenges, all colored with natural red, white, and black pigments. As elsewhere in the central Voltaic area, these geometric patterns comprise a system of signs and symbols used in initiations." (Art of the Upper Volta Rivers, Alain et Françoise Chaffin, Paris, 1987, pp. 274-76)
In addition to the design patterns mentioned above by Roy, the present work is decorated overall on the reverse side of the plank with the checkerboard pattern; exquisite encrusted painted surface with an indigenous repair to the prominent hook element, each indicative of significant cultural use.
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