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Source Description
Only the farmers among the Mossi people employ masks. This mask’s proper name, <em>wan-balinga</em>, 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
171268
label
Mask (wan-balinga)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
171268
contentType
object
title
Mask (wan-balinga)
description
Only the farmers among the Mossi people employ masks. This mask’s proper name, <em>wan-balinga</em>, 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.
date
early 1900s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Mask
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 34 x 14 x 14 cm (13 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Burkina Faso, Mossi-style blacksmith-carver
accession
2014.1
Source extras
tec
Wood and paint
tombstone
Mask (wan-balinga), early 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Burkina Faso, Mossi-style blacksmith-carver. Wood and paint; overall: 34 x 14 x 14 cm (13 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 2014.1
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
This mask was worn and danced upon the death of an elder, escorting the corpse to the grave.
citations
citation
Germain, Jacques, Céline Marti, and Hughes Dubois. 2006. <em>Art Ancien De L’afrique Noire</em>. Montréal: Jacques Germain Arts Ethnographiques, p.31.
citation
Petridis, Constantine. “Acquisition Highlights 2014: African Art.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 55, no. 2 (March/April 2015): 17.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 17
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:48:12.980000
sourceId
171268
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Wood and paint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
90ea700ac2907e03