A large female Senufo Guardian sculpture (propi:ibèlè), from the region of Korogho, Boundiali, village Tingrela, standing on a cylindrical base, carrying a spoon in the right hand. The definition of the role of each carried object depends on the region the statue in question comes from. For this statue the spoon has the function of a kitchen ladle. Our statue has the primary role of ceremony and rite. In the left hand the statue possibly holds a small bag of kaolin for the rite. At the time of writing, we don't know anything more specific about this little object. On the top of the head sits a plaque attachment carved out in the middle. 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 "Lenke" wood (not a Senari a Djula word), all over the statue are partly faded brown and whitish dots.

.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.

3.200 - 3.600,- Euro

Height: 148 cm
Weight: 10,40 kg