Mask - Africa (No reserve price)

of Bamana

Stylized tribal sculpture that was worn on the head, fixed on a wicker headdress. It would be an animal - a genius called Ciwara who would have taught the Bambara, or Bamana, to cultivate the land. They recall the myth through the stylized representation of a hippopotamus antelope, whose name Ciwara means 'beast of the earth.' Worn on the top of the head and held in place by a small basket-like structure, these crests accompanied dancers during the rituals of tòn, an association dedicated to agricultural work. The masks would leap across the field to chase away evil odors, detect any danger, or hunt malicious spirits that could steal the soul of cultivated plants and the vital force of their seeds. Located in central and southern Mali, the Bambara, Bamana, or 'disbelievers,' as Muslims have called them, belong to the great Mande group.