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Description

A brown wood mask of two faces in a side-by-side mirror image and crowned by a hornbill(?) pecking in between them. The eyes are cut out. A possible staining technique could have been used to create darker effects.

History Of Use

Kpelié (face masks) are idealized representations of the beauty of young women; they are used in funerary and initiation rites. Funerary masquerades, organized and performed by the Poro society of a given village, concentrate on honouring the dead and ensuring continuity between the living and the ancestral dead. Within the Fonombele blacksmith group, the Kodöli-yëhë masquerade dance utilizes these face masks in conjunction with specific hip and shoulder movements meant to refer to the feminine qualities of a beautiful young woman. Kodöli-yëhë serves as both entertainment in blacksmith funeral social festivities and as part of the initiation process for male Junior Grade members in blacksmith Poro societies. Kpelié are worn with raffia costumes and the dance is accompanied by songs, chants, and instruments. Until it's independence in 1960, Cote d'Ivoire remained under French rule and its policy of association. Indigenous Senfuo groups were allowed to preserve their customs so long as they were compatible with French interests. However, following mass conversions to Christianity in southern Cote d'Ivoire in the early 20th century and the Massa iconoclast movement in southern Mali in the mid-20th century many indigenous groups abandoned traditinal visual culture. What was left behind was either either collected or later replicated by Senufo artists for the art trade market.

Iconographic Meaning

Twins (ngáambele) form an integral part of the Senufo creation myth and are thought to possess more inherent power because they have closer ties to the supernatural world than ordinary people. However, like the creation myth, twins must have the ideal sexual balance of male and female. The hornbill(?), between the two faces, is a primordial entity and represents intellectual power and the dual forces of male and female procreation. The hornbill may also signify the blacksmith artisan group.

Item History

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