GothamGallery Fine African Art - Gunrunsi Tribal Mask Burkina Faso F

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GothamGallery Fine African Art - Gunrunsi Tribal Mask Burkina Faso F:
$1200.00

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Outstanding African Burkina Faso Gurunsi Face Mask

Inches: Height: 14.5 Inches
Centimeters: Height: 37 Centimeters
Measurement Mask Only
Material: Wood, Pigment
Estimated Age: Early 20th Century
Condition: Good
Remarks: Stylized face mask rare form geometric designs polychrome finished aged surface
Shipping: US East Coast - Estimated $20.00
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Documentation of Authenticity / Any Available Provenance Will Be Included With This Piece

CONDITION
Minor wood deterioration, lost of pigment, scrapes, chips, large cracks back edge, overall condition good. Thank you and please view my other items.BACKGROUND
Gurunsi is a collective term, which includes Gurensi, Kasena, Lyele, Nuna, Nunuma, Sisala, and Winiama. These ethnicities speak dialects of the Gur language, and it was the Mossi who gave the Gurunsi name to the tribes who live in the west and south of the Mossi plateau. Together they number about 200,000 people, the most numerous of which are the Nuna, estimated at 100,000. The Gurunsi live in a region where the tsetse fly, carrier of sleeping sickness fatal to domestic animals, is rampant. As farmers, the Gurunsi adopted the slash-and-burn system of cultivation. During the dry season they also organize large collective fishing expeditions and hunt. The people believe in a creator god, Yi, who withdrew from humankind after the Creation; in the center of the village a shrine is dedicated to him. Moreover, each clan shelters magic objects in a hut – these allow them to communicate with the vital forces of nature. The masks represent the spirits of the bush. They are made in the shape of poles or in the form of animals. They are colored red, black, and white. The eyes protrude, surrounded by concentric circles, with a rather short snout on the animal masks, and a large and protruding mouth on the more abstract masks. They are decorated with geometric motifs, and often repainted. The wearer of the mask may be invisible underneath the fiber skirt and must behave as the animal does, imitating its gait. The mask’s role is important during ceremonies at the end of initiation, at the funerals of notables, and as entertainment on certain market days. Gurunsi statues kept inside huts or on family shrines are reserved for divination.
Painter Fred Uhlman words - Most of the artists I admired, Picasso, Modigliani, Deraini, to mention only a few, had collected African art and had been profoundlyinfluenced by it. Shortly afterwards I bought the Baule Fetish and the Baule bobbin which are still two of the finest pieces in my collection. It is easy to seewhy I bought them and why from that moment I have never stopped collecting. The head of the bobbin or heddle - pulley which is after all only a functionalobject for the purpose of weaving seemed to me then and today as beautiful as a Greek goddess. The fetish moved me as deeply as the bobbin by its silenttragic dignity and its air of profound meditation. GUARANTEE
AUTHENTICITY AND CONDITION OF ITEMS ARE GUARANTEED TO THEIR DESCRIPTION AND PICTURES.
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SHIPPING TIME: ITEM ARE CAREFULLY PACKAGED AND SHIPPED OUT WITHIN 10 DAYS OF PAYMENT. PACKING FRAGILE ART ITEM NEEDS CAREFUL ATTENTION AND WILL NEVER BE FAST, BUT WE DO OUT BEST TO MAKE SURE IT WILL ARRIVE FOR YOU SAFELY. IF YOU NEED THE ITEM QUICKLY PLEASE EMAIL FIRST FOR ARRANGEMENT.
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