Antelope Headdress
20th century
Object PlaceBurkina Faso
Medium/TechniqueWood, paint or pigment
DimensionsOverall: 120.5 x 15 cm (47 7/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
Accession number2009.2578
On View
Not on viewClassificationsMasks
Collections
The Kurumba peoples occupy portions of modern day Burkina Faso. This antelope headdress, which would be accompanied by a raffia costume during performances, was used during ancestral ceremonies designed to aid the dead in their travel to ancestorhood. The headdresses are adorned with colors and patterns similar to Dogon masks used during annual ritual cycles.
Provenance1979, purchased in Paris by Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
