This is the rating and price for Senufo Couple Figures, second half 20th cen

Description : Additional Information: Every collection of African Art needs ’center pieces’, sculpture that reflects all the best of the carvings of a people in Africa. This marvelous male and female pair from the Senufo people of Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Mali and Burkina Faso would serve to be the focal point of a collection. These figures, 28 inches in height, have all the hallmarks of classic Senufo sculpture in terms of details and the fact of the obvious age.  ,They are in fact both beautifully carved figures reflecting the skill and aesthetic sensibilities of the Senufo carver/ artist. The male is wearing a colonial hat and the female has an elaborate hairstyle. They are both shown wearing bracelets on arms .  ,Both figures are mounted on bases specifically made for them. hat is particular to this pair is that they are painted in red and are wearing a carved cache-sexe. ,Each of them  ,stand on a  ,round base. They look more colonial rather than in more traditional look. ,Male and female figures are present during different ceremonies among the Senufo and unless one knows the specific context of the figure it is often difficult to name the figure. This finely carved pair most probably had been commissioned by the male ‘Poro or Pondo Society’ that was concerned with initiations, local social control and funerals of it’s members. Among the Senufo funerals are highly structured as a complex set of funerary rituals and public ceremonies that not only use art but in themselves are art forms. It is during funerals of important members of Senufo society who would have elaborate funerals according to their age, sex, and social status and whether they were of prominent families that figures of this size and type would appear. This female-male pair would appear during ceremonies and rituals during the the funeral memorializing the an individual. She and her male partner would be carried during funerary dances for the senior initiated member of Poro, swung in rhythm to the dance and periodically stuck on the ground in time to the music as a kind of homage to the earth and the deceased. Known by the Senufo as Pombibele - “Children of Poro’ they are popularly known in the the West as “Deble” or as “Rhythm Pounders” for being struck on the earth during the ceremonial dances. The figure would be normally held by the arms but in this case held by the handle projecting from the top of the head. Held in the fashion they were carried before the corpse and struck on the earth with the large heavy base re-enforcing the drumbeats of the orchestra and tramping the grass for the deceased to have an easy walk to join the ancestors. , Recommended  ,reading: Glaze, Anita J. “Art and Death in a Senufo Village. 1981. Forster, T. Die Kunst Der Senufo, Museum Reitberg, Zurich. 1988. Forster, T. and H.-J. Koloss, Die Kunst Der Senufo, Elfenbeinkuste 1990. I have examined this piece and agree with the description. Niangi Batulukisi, PhD
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Estimate (low-high) : 850 USD-950 USD It's free to register now to view!

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