Karanga Mossi mask

Karanga Mossi mask (Yatenga province, north-west Burkina Faso)

There is no doubt about it. Yatenga is too close to the Bandiagara cliffs for the Dogon's features and customs not to be reflected in the customs of their Mossi neighbours... and vice versa. An example is this Karanga mask, which, carved by Mossi hands, has sometimes been attributed to the Awa Dogon society.
The Karanga is a mask related to ancestor worship, it is family property that is proudly passed down from father to son and represents a special bond between the masked person and those who have worn it before him.
The flat face has triangular eyes separated by a serrated crest that acts as a nose. On the forehead there are two oryx or antelope horns and a cylindrical stem from which a more or less elongated plate extends (in the case of the Karanga we sell at Black Market the plate is particularly long, exceeding 165 cm).
The mask is carved entirely with water-based ornaments and triangles, and is usually covered with kaolin and ochre pigments.

Length: 212 cm; Width: 16 cm.