Senoufo Ivory Coast 'Kpelié' Initiation Dance Mask, 1st Half of the 20th Century

Senoufo Ivory Coast 'Kpelié' Initiation Dance Mask, First Half of the 20th Century

A strikingly darkly patinated and geometrically inscribed ritual mask made by the Senoufo people of the Ivory Coast. This delicately carved mask, with its characteristic arched eyebrows, oval head and narrow eyes represents a beauteous female spirit, with desirable dark skin, facial scarification to the sides of the mouth, and at the edges of the mask the elaborate rounded and rectangular hairstyles worn by women in Senoufo society.

However, a mask of this sort, known as a ‘Kpelié’ mask, would only be worn by men, who as part of the male secret society of initiation called ‘Poro’, are guided by an ancestral female spirit, ‘The Ancient Mother’. The two lengthened appendages at the side of the chin connect the spirit to the earth, and the charming rounded Hornbill bird, one of the first on earth in Senoufo cosmology, is significantly perched at the top of the head. The Hornbill is also closely to smiths in Senoufo society, and its presence here on a Kpelié mask would indicate the transmission of this area of knowledge in the instructive rituals in which it would be used. A beautiful and sophisticated ritual piece.

Dimensions: H 42cm x W 27cm x D 9cm