Sénoufo kagba mask, Nafana subgroup, Ivory Coast - Lot 24

Lot n° 24
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Estimation :
800 - 1200 EUR
Sénoufo kagba mask, Nafana subgroup, Ivory Coast - Lot 24
Sénoufo kagba mask, Nafana subgroup, Ivory Coast Wood, paint, pigments Height: 75 cm Provenance: French private collection Zoomorphic Kagba mask from the Poro initiation society, whose hybrid character is evident in the gaping mouth with sharp teeth, the tusks framing the long straight nose the long, straight nose, the curved buffalo horns atop the head, the pointed ears, and the high, slightly curved, ringed gazelle horns. curved gazelle horns. The animal iconography is reinforced by the presence of a chameleon on the top of the head. The entire composition is covered with a vivid black, red and white polychrome, contributing to the vitality and expressive power of this mask-heaume, which, during agrarian ceremonies and funerary rites ceremonies and funerary rites, served as a medium for the manifestation of ancestral spirits and the forces of nature. The mask is in fact "the head of the Kagba", with the frontal part fixed vertically vertically in front of a vast, long wickerwork structure painted in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern, evoking a supernatural, theriomorphic creature, fantastically hides one or two carriers for its movement. The Kagba is the initiation institution specific to the Poro of the Sénoufo Nafara sub-group in the Sinématiali region. His masked manifestation only takes place in public at initiates' funerals; he is preceded by He is preceded by attendants, and no non-initiates or women are allowed to see him. References Kagba heads: - Les Anciens Senufo, 1923-1935, RP. Knops, p.203, fig. 45-47 (complete Kagba structure) - L'Art Sacré Sénoufo, B. Holas, 1978, p. 248/249, p. 310/311 (complete structure of the Kagba) - Arts de la Côte d'Ivoire, Musée Barbier Mueller, 1993, Tome 2, p. 21, n°16 - Senufo sans frontières, Gagliardi, Petridis, 2015, n° 129 collection Museum Rietberg Zurich, n°130 ex collection Guy Laliberté Note: rare mask, one of the two horns on the mufle redone (old local repair). The polychromy was redone after the mask was created, probably in the 1950s/1960s, using more resistant Western paints that were more to the taste of the users.
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