A Mossi mask, Burkina Faso, region Kaya, collected in the village village Boulsa.

Some informations about the pigments: The pigments used to paint the masks are red, black, and white. These are among the commonest colors in African art. The red is ground iron oxide, found almost everywhere in Africa. The black is a thick tarry substance made by boiling the seed pods of the Acacia tree. The white is either chalk or the excrement of sun lizards, dug out of burrows by young boys. The paint is a blend of pigment and gum Arabic, sap exuded from Acacia trees and used widely in the West as a binder in art and painting. Black represents age, health, wisdom, and well being, white represents youth, inexprerience, death, and illness, and red is the color of danger and the spirit world.

700 - 900,- Euro

Height: 80 cm
Weight: 1,6 kg