Description
Kpelie mask, Senoufo-Dioula, Ivory Coast Wood H. 32,5 cm Senufo-Dioula kpelie mask, Ivory Coast H. 12 6/8 in 8 000/12 000 Provenance : -?Collected in Ivory Coast by M. Simon Escarré, before 1950 - French private collection, acquired from the Escarré family - Sotheby's Paris, 15 June 2004, lot 141 - French private collection Publications: -?Holas Bohumil, L'art sacré Sénoufo, Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1978, p.265 - Gottschalk Bukhard, L'art du continent noir, volume 3, éditions Düsseldorf Gottschalk, 2009, p. 139 This mask with its powerful volumes and superb contrasting patina is a remarkable example of a kpélié, the famous mask used in the Senufo society of the Poro. The concave face is separated by a straight T-shaped nose, the high arches are marked by a double groove, the convex forehead is adorned with a small bulb symbolizing the female sex, the mouth projected forward reveals teeth, scarifications decorate the cheeks and forehead, the perimeter of the mask is adorned with characteristic elements evoking the fruit of the kapokie, animal horns, legs. On the face we can see the marks of the old trading nails that once enhanced the mask. According to Holas who described and commented on this mask in 1978, some of its decorative characteristics indicate that it belonged to a Dioula sub-group that had been established for many generations in Senoufo country.
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Kpelie mask, Senoufo-Dioula, Ivory Coast Wood H. 32,5 cm Senufo-Dioula kpelie mask, Ivory Coast H. 12 6/8 in 8 000/12 000 Provenance : -?Collected in Ivory Coast by M. Simon Escarré, before 1950 - French private collection, acquired from the Escarré family - Sotheby's Paris, 15 June 2004, lot 141 - French private collection Publications: -?Holas Bohumil, L'art sacré Sénoufo, Nouvelles éditions africaines, 1978, p.265 - Gottschalk Bukhard, L'art du continent noir, volume 3, éditions Düsseldorf Gottschalk, 2009, p. 139 This mask with its powerful volumes and superb contrasting patina is a remarkable example of a kpélié, the famous mask used in the Senufo society of the Poro. The concave face is separated by a straight T-shaped nose, the high arches are marked by a double groove, the convex forehead is adorned with a small bulb symbolizing the female sex, the mouth projected forward reveals teeth, scarifications decorate the cheeks and forehead, the perimeter of the mask is adorned with characteristic elements evoking the fruit of the kapokie, animal horns, legs. On the face we can see the marks of the old trading nails that once enhanced the mask. According to Holas who described and commented on this mask in 1978, some of its decorative characteristics indicate that it belonged to a Dioula sub-group that had been established for many generations in Senoufo country.
