Antelope headdress "tjiwara" with anthropomorphic figure
Mali, Bamana
sold
EUR 1,200
Provenance
Old British Collection (coll. in the 1960s/ 70s)Size
H: 60 cm
H: 23.6 inch
Description
wood, cowry shell, glass beads, rest., base
These headdresses are supposed to remind of a fabulous being, half man, half animal, who in legendary past thaught man how to cultivate the earth.
But as grain grew abundant, men began to waste it. “Tijwara” buried himself in the ground, and men, having lost him, carved a mask in his memory.