Sculpture - Wood - Senufo - Ivory Coast

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. Provenance Mohamed Belo Garba. 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. Additional fees may be collected.