A female Senufo Guardian sculpture, from the region Korhogo, village Diamtènè. The style resembles that from the area of Diamtènè This sculpture plays a double role: it is a guardian of the fields and a déblé (rhythm pounder). Very short legs rising directly from the low cylindrical base, a skirt whose pleats are arranged in three rows, a slender torso with a protruding navel which is decorated with scarifications, the breasts tapering and slightly drooping, the shoulders are shaped like a board with fine horizontal lines, remarkably flat and elongated arms with bracelets, the hands are stretched out flat, a long neck, an oval head with a pointed mouth showing bared teeth, a long flat nose with a broad tip, the coffeebean eyes are closed, powerful brows arching above them, the hairstyle consists of a crest in the middle and a ponytail-like curl in front of the forehead and one at the nape; remains of Camwood, shiny dark brown patina, signs of age and cultic use.

"Their (déblé) 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“ 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.

1.800 - 2.200,- Euro

reserved

Height: 69 cm
Weight: 3,5 kg