Long African Burkina Faso Carved Bobo Bwa Plank Mask. A regal form for the tallest individuals in the tribe, with a long central rectangular panel displaying geometric triangle shapes and animal motifs, a rounded face at top, an arrowpoint-like bottom, and two hexagonal shapes that separate the top and bottom pieces from the main body, both with an opening and one decorated as the sun and the other as the moon. The back has a place for the face to rest with a green tie attached later for wall-hanging, and the main body has a checkerboard pattern all throughout it. 

Size: 79 x 9 1/2 x 9 in. 

African Bwa plank masks (specifically nwantantay) from Burkina Faso are large, wooden, geometric, and often vertical, representing water or bush spirits, rather than direct ancestors, and are used in purification, agricultural, and initiation rituals. Based on religious and cultural practices assimilated from the neighboring Nuna people in the early 20th Century, they feature high-contrast red, white, and black pigments with stylized imagery of insects (butterflies, bats), animals (hawks, owls), or abstract patterns.

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