A female Ci wara of the Segou region, attached on the headdress-baskets of the dancer ,leather, cory-shells, metal sheets and an animal horn on the neck of the male sulpture; fine brownish patina with traces of age and ritual use.

The famous Ci-wara antelope-headdresses, objects of rare elegance, are among the world´s best known pieces of African Art. And ever since Captain Archinard´s shipment to the Musée d´Ethnographie du Trocadero in 1882 0f one such specimen, thousands of other Ci-wara exemplares have been acquired by private collectors and public institutions around the world. Pascal Imerato has provided a useful summary of the two main style-divisions os "Ci-wara heads: "There exist two pricipal sorts of Tyi Wara Koun among the Bambara: The vertcal and the horicontal. Within these groups one finds several sub-styles. The vertical forms are encountered in the east of Bambara country; the horizontal in the west." Imperato 1970

A Ciwara dance ceremony close to Segou, in the background the Niger-river, before 1940.

"The tji wara society members use a headdress representing, in the form of an antelope, the mythical being who taught men how to farm. The word tji means “work” and wara means “animal,” thus “working animal.” There are antelopes with vertical or horizontal direction of the horns. In the past the purpose of the tji wara association was to encourage cooperation among all members of the community to ensure a successful crop. In recent time, however, the Bamana concept of tji wara has become associated with the notion of good farmer, and the tji
wara masqueraders are regarded as a farming beast. The Bamana sponsor farming contests where the tji wara masqueraders perform. Always performing together in a male and female pair, the coupling of the antelope masqueraders speaks of fertility and agricultural abundance." Source: A History of Art in Africa, Publisher: Prentice Hall/Harry N. Abrams

800 - 1.200,- Euro

Height: 103 cm / 95 cm
Weight: 1,7 kg / 1,5 kg