A zoomorphic Winiama or Nunuma board mask from Burkina Faso, with a hollowed oval form bearing a monkey-like face, with raised diamond-shaped mouth and triangular eyes, pointed protruding ears; the head mask part is crowned by two elliptically shaped superstructures, interrupted by a lozenge and topped by a crescent-shaped form. The surface is painted with regular triangles of white kaolin pigment.
"Most of these Burkina masks from the Bwa, Nunuma and Winiama are covered with geometric patterns...(which) represent the scars worn by men and women... the plank masks represent flying spirits and are associated with water. These spirits can take the form of insects that mass around muddya pools after early rains, or of larger birds, including owls and ibis, The key to understand plank mask forms is that these masks are not representational, but embody the supernatural forces that act on behalf of the Bwa clans that use the mask." Land of the flying masks, Burkina Faso, the Thomas G.B. Wheelock collection, 140 ff..."
