TRIBAL AFRICAN ART MOSSI WAN PESEGO MASK. Burkina Faso. Most Mossi masks symbolically depict totemic animals associated with particular clans. Each family has an animal with which it has mythological connections and which protects it from harm. Such masks would appear at the funerals of important family members, a moment loaded with personal, community, and spiritual significance. At the end of their own active lives, masks might go on to second lives as altars, providing connection to the spirits of commemorated ancestors. 58cm x 15cm