A Bamana Ci Wara sculpture, Bougouni region, unknown on Zahan, but the animal on bottom is well described in literature; shiny, brownish patina with the original attachment basket for the dance ceremony

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

Drawing by Dominique Zahan, from Les Antelopes du Soleil,
showing relationship between Ci Wara headdress and aadwark
pangolin, Animals in African Art, Allan F. Roberts, Museum for African Art, New York, Prestel Munich, 1995, pp 82.

500 - 600,- Euro

Height: 64 cm
Weight: 1,6 kg