Bwa Burkina Faso butterfly mask - Lot 11

Bwa Burkina Faso butterfly mask Carved wood and pigments Mid-twentieth century Length : 128 cm Height : 29.5 cm Provenance: French private collection --- Butterfly Bwa Mask, Burkina Faso Carved wood and pigments Mid 20th century Length: 128 cm Height: 29.5 cm Provenance: French private collection This Bwa plank mask, a member of the hawk mask category and frequently referred to as a butterfly mask, has open wings on which triangular and circle motifs are carved in wood, and enhanced with colored pigments, alternating between red, black and white. Each motif represents a symbol associated with clan myths. The two-tone patina is composed of kaolin and a brown coating. The circles symbolize the flight of butterflies around ponds during the first rains. Bwa masks have borrowed many elements from neighboring Gurunsi, Bobo and Mossi. Settled on both sides of the Black Volta in Burkina Faso and Mali, the Bwa are divided into three endogamous castes: blacksmiths, griots and farmers. They believe in a god who created the world, then abandoned it to his son Do. Do, son of the creator god, was involved in funerals and agrarian rites. Leaf masks are made by villagers; only the southern Bwa, the niegue, produce wooden masks, often zoomorphic, and the famous abstract board masks, representing nature spirits. See "L'oiseau dans l'art de l'Afrique de l'Ouest" ed. Sepia; "Masques animaliers d'Afrique noire" ed. Sepia. --- This Bwa board mask, from the mask-hawk category and often called butterfly mask, has open wings on which triangular patterns and circles are engraved in the wood, and enhanced with colored pigments, alternating between red, black and white. Each pattern is a symbol associated with the clan's myths. The two-tone patina is made of kaolin and a brown coating. The circles symbolize the flight of butterflies around the ponds during the first rains. The Bwa masks have borrowed many elements from their neighbours Gurunsi, Bobo and Mossi. The Bwa, who live on both sides of the Black Volta in Burkina Faso and Mali, are divided into three endogamous castes: blacksmiths, griots and farmers. They believe in a creator god of the world, who subsequently abandoned him to his son Do. Do, son of the creator god, intervened during funerals and agrarian rites. The leaf masks are made by the villagers, only the Southern Bwa, the nieguegue , produce wooden masks often zoomorphic, and the famous abstract plank masks representing the spirits of nature. See, "The Bird in West African Art" ed. Sepia; "Black African Animal Masks" ed. Sepia.