Buffalo Mask
early to mid-1900s
Maker Unknown
African Art
Buffalo Mask, early to mid-1900s. Africa, West Africa, Burkina Faso, possibly Bwa-style maker. Wood, plant fibers, paint, and iron; overall: 69.8 cm (27 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Katherine C. White 1969.2 Among the Bwa people, masks with human, animal, and fantastic traits typically represent protective bush spirits. This mask’s horns and muzzle identify it as a bush buffalo. Masked dancers appear during the dry season for initiations, funerals of elders, market days, harvest celebrations, and annual renewal rituals to protect the well-being of the community.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Mask
- Formatted Medium
- Wood, plant fibers, paint, and iron
- Dimensions
- Overall: 69.8 cm (27 1/2 in.)
- Departments
- African Art
- Accession Number
- 1969.2
- Credit Line
- Gift of Katherine C. White
- Exhibitions
- Year in Review: 1969, A Cleveland Bestiary, CMA 1968: African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, cat. no. 31, repr.<br>CMA 1970: "Year in Review 1969," CMA Bulletin LVII (Jan., 1970), p. 47, no. 128, repr. p. 41.<br>CMA 1981: A Cleveland Bestiary, October 14-December 9, 1981, cat. no. 11, repr. p, 17.
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 108A Sub-Saharan
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