Antilope-Jiraffe Adone mask

Adonié is the name of the antelope mask of the Kurumba. The Kurumba are located in the north of the country Boboin the border area of Burkina and Mali, mainly in the Arbinda region. The mask of the Kurumba is a Great Mask, which appears on the 1.000 CFA francs. The civilizing hero Yirígué and their children came down from the sky touched with this mask that represents the male horse antelope or hypothragus that the Indians call Koba. They also have the hare mask and the hyena mask that dance in the fields with the mask of the antelope, to announce the coming of winter. The mask bearer must carry an arrow in his hand and lift a lot of dust during the dance.

This mask of hypothragous antelope, stylized, with giraffe neck, comes from the region of Arbinda, Burkina Faso. The real owners of this mask are the Sawaduguin the family of the Kurumba. By the shape of the horns there are those who see in these masks the antelope orix or adax. They carry an elongated spade peak. They are decorated along their entire surface with geometric drawings and a polychrome of the most varied. The reason he tends to think it's the hypothragus is that it's the totemic animal of much of the clans. Kurumba, from which most of the bearers and sculptors of these masks come. This privilege reinforces the religious power of clans that hold masks that are considered direct descendants of the founders of the clans of society KurumbaThis mask is called Adonié and represents the female antelope, wife of the civilizing hero Yirígué, the main divinity of the Kurumba, an ancient population currently acculturated by the Mossi. Yirígué, hero who drove the evil spirits out of the fields during the first agricultural jobs.

These masks belong to society Younyonsé or NioNiosé who used them to drive out the wandering souls of the dead from the village after the ceremony of the mourning of the heads of the earth. The wandering soul of the deceased was captured by the mask that constitutes its seat and altar. These masks were also used, forming groups, in propitiatory agricultural ceremonies, to implore the rain and to fight against evil spirits. In addition to the agricultural festivities, he participates in the mourning ceremonies, ending the mourning in honor of the deceased.

We are facing a very old piece that has required restoration.