Lost Wax Nativity

Lost Wax Nativity

Burkina Faso

Bronze

This Nativity was made by artisans in Burkina Faso, a country in West Africa, using the ancient technique of lost wax casting. Metalcasting is a skill that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Included in the scene is a figure playing a balafon, a gourd-resonated xylophone. He is a griot (a praise-singer or storyteller): “The West African griot is a troubadour, the counterpart of the medieval European minstrel . . . The griot knows everything that is going on. He is a living archive of the people’s traditions” (Francis Bebey, African Music: A People’s Art). In this Nativity the griot is placed at the edge of the scene, as if revealing the story to viewers.

On loan from the Knights of Columbus Museum, Inc. Collection, New Haven, Connecticut