Senufo Mask, Côte d'Ivoire

Senufo Mask, Côte d'Ivoire
kpelie
Wood, encrustations, pigment
Height 12in (30.5cm)

Provenance
Galerie Lucas Ratton, Paris
French Private Collection

Robert Goldwater notes that a kpelie mask "has a variety of functions. It takes part in the rights of the lô society on different occasions: at initiation ceremonies, at funerary and second burial rights for lô members, and it is also employed at harvest festivals when thanks are given to ancestors who have helped to ensure good crops." (Senufo: Sculpture from West Africa, The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1964, p. 15)

Finely carved with intricate designs, the narrow facial plane with classic elements including stylized horns on the top and legs at the bottom; two columns of incised eyebrows above slit eyes, a proportionally long linear nose above an open mouth revealing teeth and no chin; the facial plane highlighted with incised concentric lines below the eyes, and linear lines below; fine, shiny black patina.