Carved and painted wooden warthog mask, with two large circular eyes on the front and two small red pointed ears. Extending down is a large tube-like snout, with tusks extending up over the upper jaw, and teeth (repeating triangles) along the sides. The top of the snout is decorated with repeating V's in black and white. A plain wooden collar extends back from the head, and has many holes drilled through it. A short loop of fibre cord is attached at the top.

• Narrative

  Purchased by the donor's wife in 1993, in Germany, from the auction house 'Ketterer Kunst Munchen'.

• History Of Use

  Mossi warthog mask. Mossi masks (wango), representing the ancestors, appear during burial and successive memorial services to ensure fidelity to established ritual, judge the deceased’s merit, and dispatch his spirit from the household he inhabited. They are also used in initiation ceremonies.

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• Type of Item mask
• Culture Mossi
• Material wood, paint, fibre
• Measurements height 45.0 cm, width 19.5 cm, depth 19.0 cm (overall)

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• Previous Owner Frank Heinzelmann
• Received from Frank Heinzelmann

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• Made in Burkina Faso

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• Ownership Date before March 27, 2018
• Acquisition Date on March 27, 2018

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• Condition fair
• Accession Number 3294/0001