Plank Mask
- Culture
- Winiama artist
- Date
- 20th century
- Material
- Wood, pigment
- possibly associated with
- Burkina Faso, Africa
- possibly associated with
- Hauts-Bassins department, Burkina Faso, Africa
- Classification
- Costume & clothing, masks
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 102
- Dimensions
- 51 3/16 x 6 3/8 x 5 1/4 in. (130 x 16.2 x 13.3 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. Donald M. Suggs
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 221:1977
NOTES
Masks from Burkina Faso are famous for their dramatic forms and graphic surface patterning, as seen in this example. Enhanced by vivid, contrasting pigments, this mask and the one to the left each feature a plank crest or superstructure that soars overhead. Rising high into the air, swirling, and bobbing when danced by a masquerader, these masks and their dramatic scale and movements would emphasize the otherworldliness of the spirits they represent. The abstract geometric designs of plank masks could suggest the presence of various, invented protective spirits that guard and guide communities and accompany the spirits of the dead into the ancestral realm.
Provenance
- c.1970-1971
Karl-Heinz Krieg, Neuenkirchen, Germany
c.1970-1971 -
Alexander Roth Gallery, Clayton, MO, USA, acquired from Karl-Heinz Krieg, Neuenkirchen, Germany [1]
- 1977
Dr. Donald M. Suggs (b.1932), St. Louis, MO
1977 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Dr. Donald M. Suggs [2]
Notes:
[1] In an email dated September 27, 2010 to curator Matthew Robb, Michael Roth [of Alexander Roth Gallery] stated this object "came to the Alexander Roth Gallery in 1970-71 from Karl-Heinz Krieg" [copy of email in SLAM document files].
[2] A letter dated December 16, 1977 from Lee Parsons, curator at the Saint Louis Art Museum, to Dr. Donald Suggs acknowledges the gift of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 14, 1977.
Karl-Heinz Krieg, Neuenkirchen, Germany
c.1970-1971 -
Alexander Roth Gallery, Clayton, MO, USA, acquired from Karl-Heinz Krieg, Neuenkirchen, Germany [1]
- 1977
Dr. Donald M. Suggs (b.1932), St. Louis, MO
1977 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Dr. Donald M. Suggs [2]
Notes:
[1] In an email dated September 27, 2010 to curator Matthew Robb, Michael Roth [of Alexander Roth Gallery] stated this object "came to the Alexander Roth Gallery in 1970-71 from Karl-Heinz Krieg" [copy of email in SLAM document files].
[2] A letter dated December 16, 1977 from Lee Parsons, curator at the Saint Louis Art Museum, to Dr. Donald Suggs acknowledges the gift of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 14, 1977.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.