SNK 1212-3 – SOLD

Mossi Female Figure, Burkina Faso

H: 27 cm (10,6″), W: 3 cm (1,2″)

Mossi fertility dolls like these, with abstract flattened faces, were given to newly circumcised girls. The swollen belly and breasts depict the accomplishment of motherhood. Handling the doll carefully brings fertility and survival of the newborn.
The Mossi people are one of the largest living tribe in Burkina Faso. Mossi sculptors make polychrome masks and abstract figures. The majority of human figures are female. Mossi rulers use wooden figures to validate political power while the commoners use masks to honor the spirits of the wilderness.

Provenance: Private Danish collection. It was either acquired directly from Lau (Laurence) Sunde’s collection in Copenhagen, which dates back to the 1940s, or Lau (Laurence) Sunde was an adviser to the collector.
Sunde had a “Etnografica” boutique in 1948, that became recognized among collectors as the most specialized boutique of its kind at the time. Tribal and oriental artefacts were purchased from private collectors as well as at auctions in Paris, Amsterdam and London, among other places.

Full description of Lau (Laurence) Sunde will be forwarded by request.

Click here for more information about the Mossi people

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