Antelope dance crest "tjiwara" · Mali, Bamana · ID: 3042414
not available anymore
Size
H: 55,5 cm
H: 21.9 inch
Description
wood, dark brown patina, black paint, vertical (male) type, with stylized body, combining various animal species, crowned by a seated female figure, min. dam., fine cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base;
the performance of “tjiwara” dance crests was closely linked to agricultural life, resp. the cultivating of land. Legend has it that man had been taught the skills of farming by three animals, the aardvark, the pangolin and the python. This is why these animals are often part of “tjiwara” representations.
Comparing literature
Zahan, Dominique, Antilopes du Soleil, Vienne 1980, pl. 70, ill. II130
Publications
AHDRC: 0142074