The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 20, 2025

Mask (wan-balinga)

Mask (wan-balinga)

early 1900s
Wood and paint
Overall: 34 x 14 x 14 cm (13 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2014.1
Location: 108A Sub-Saharan

Did You Know?

This mask was worn and danced upon the death of an elder, escorting the corpse to the grave.

Description

Only the farmers among the Mossi people employ masks. This mask’s proper name, wan-balinga, evokes a mythical figure who was the mother of the first Mossi ruler. Such masks are most typically worn and danced with on the occasion of the funeral of a male or female elder as escorts of the corpse to the grave. They also appear during annual memorial services that occur months after the actual burial, when all the deceased clan members are commemorated and honored.
  • before 1967
    Charles Ratton, Paris, France
    1967–?
    Evelyn Annenberg Hall & William Jaffe, New York, NY
    Galerie Jacques Germain, Montreal, Canada
    ?–2014
    (Galerie Jacques Germain, Montreal, Canada, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2014–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Germain, Jacques, Céline Marti, and Hughes Dubois. 2006. Art Ancien De L’afrique Noire. Montréal: Jacques Germain Arts Ethnographiques, p.31.
  • {{cite web|title=Mask (wan-balinga)|url=false|author=|year=early 1900s|access-date=20 January 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2014.1