Mask - Mali (No reserve price)

Senoufo

Stylized representation of a mythical bird that is part of the five animals of the Senoufo cosmogony. Mentioned for its morphological and behavioral criteria, it decorates, in its miniature version, many African art objects from the Senoufo. Fascinating to African ethnic groups for always, the hornbill with its disproportionate beak destroys animals considered nuisances. Its unique mode of reproduction also makes it a symbol of fertility. Its long beak, 'interpreted as the depiction of the male sexual organ' that perpetuates the life of the community, returns to rest on the animal's abdomen.

Related to the society of Poro, which initiated young boys from the age of seven through a series of three cycles, each lasting seven years, this polychrome effigy of the Setien was placed in the sacred enclosure.

Standing on a circular pedestal, the bird is upright, with legs semi-bent, its rectangular wings spread laterally. The sculpture is decorated with two-tone geometric motifs. A summit crest adorns the head, carried by