Anthropo-zoomorphic face mask "ci-wara-ni kun" · Mali, Bozo / Mande, Kita Region · ID: 3050358
Price
EUR 4,000
plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance
Provenance
Private Miami Collection, USASize
H: 87 cm
H: 34.3 inch
Description
wood, five animal horns, cowries, glass beads, mirrors were once attached to the round plaques made of beeswax
Like the “chiwara” antelope dance crests, “ci-wara-ni kun” accompanied the young farmers to the fields during planting competitions and tried to spur them on to top performance. However, “ci-wara-ni kun” was not worn on the head but in front of the face.
A formally and stylistically very similar object collected by Leiris & Griaule in 1931 is in the holdings of the Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (Inv.no. 71.1931.74.635) and is published in Colleyn, 2001, p. 234, cat. 232 (see AHDRC 0079157).
Comparing literature
Colleyn, Jean Paul (Hg.), Bamana, Zürich 2001, p. 234, Kat. 232