A Gurunsi Mask Lot n° 9

Forehead mask Gurunsi, Burkina Faso Ohne Sockel / without base Wood. H 71 cm. Provenance: - According to previous owner by "F.A. Burkhart, Karlsruhe, 1966". - Swiss estate, Valais. The term Gurunsi does not refer to a single ethnic group, but has become a collective term for a number of ethnic groups (including Nuna, Nunuma, Léla, Winiama, Sisala and Kaséna) who are sedentary in southern Burkina Faso and on the border of Ghana and live from agriculture, fishing and hunting. The mostly zoomorphic masks were decorated with rich, polychrome, geometric incised decoration, the meaning of which, known by initiates, varies from village to village, from clan to clan. In the form of real or imaginary animals, the masks mainly depicted bush spirits who watched over a family, a clan or the whole community and ensured fertility, health and prosperity. The masks appear on different occasions: Funerals, initiation, purification of the village before the onset of the rainy season. Further reading: Chaffin. Roy, Christopher (2007). Land of the Flying Masks. Munich: Prestel. CHF 400 / 800 EUR 400 / 800