A large female Senufo Guardian sculpture (propi:ibèlè). This is a Senufo Déblé and field keeper. It plays the double role of a dance sculpture and a field guard. It is not used to accompany the funeral ceremony to the cemetery. The statue comes from the region of Tingrela and Boundiali, about 90 and 100 km from the town of Korhogo. It´s standing on a cylindrical base, carrying a spoon in its right hand. In the left hand it possibly holds a small sacrificial animal (a rooster?). At the time of writing, we don't know anything more specific about it. On the top of the head sits a nearly circular plaque attachment with three crocodiles in relief. This plaque attachment means that the object plays a double role: First it is used in a ceremonial way and second it is a field guard. Heavy hard wood, the patina rubbed bare on neck, arms and face by frequent touching. Provenance Mohamed Belo Garba.

.Burkhard Gottschalk writes that this is not a rhythm pounder (Débéle, do:ogèlè), but a very rare stationary used guardian figure. These sculptures are called propi:ibèlè, „children of the Poro".
"Their membership of the Poro would be an explanation for our little knowledge of their significance, because this organisation, which largely determines the village world of the Senufo, is a secret society. ... Even rarer are the statues [propi:ibèlè] … of which it is only said that they belong to the Poro, because there is no reliable information about their use.“ Burkhard Gottschalk, Kunst aus Schwarzafrika. SENUFO. Unbekannte Schätze aus privaten Sammlungen, 2009, p.174, 179.

Lit.: Burkhard Gottschalk, Senufo. Massa und die Statuen des Poro, 2002; Staatliche Museen der Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin, Die Kunst der Senufo, Elfenbeinküste. Mit einem Beitrag von Till Förster, 1990; Museum Rietberg Zürich, Die Kunst der Senufo aus Schweizer Sammlungen, 1988; Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, Senufo unbound. Dynamics of art and identity in West Africa, Cleveland 2015.

sold

Height: 165 cm
Weight: 10.6 kg