Ring of silence "nyi-kar-yi" - Côte d'Ivoire, Senufo

bronze, cast in lost form, base
These rings were awarded to the young men at the conclusion of their initiation into the "Iô" society.
According to Goldwater, after returning to the village, they wore the rings in their mouths to pay their respect to the elders of society. In this fashion the young men enacted for all to see a ritual symbolizing the silence they must henceforth observe concerning the secret knowledge and practices of the "Iô" society, of which they were now accepted members.
H: 9 cm; D: 2,4 cm, H: 3,5 inch; D: 0,9 inch
Provenance:
Timothy F. Garrard, Korthogo / Ivory Coast, Africa
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, Belgium
Alfred W. Angst, Zurich-Aeugstertal, Switzerland
Lit.: Museum of Primitive Art (ed.), Robert Goldwater, A Memorial Exhibition, New York 1973, ill. 139 ff.
Condition Report: See description