Figural carved staff "tefalapica"

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Description

wood, blackish brown patina, crowned by a seated female figure with tribal marks on body and face, min. dam., small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, base;
“tefalapica” means “the girl of the man working with the hoe” and presents the trophy money in a kind of hoeing competition. In September and October the young men of the Senufo have to cultivate the new yams fields, an exhausting field work, organized as a kind of competition.

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Comparing literature

Förster, Till, Die Kunst der Senufo aus Schweizer Sammlungen, Zürich 1988, p. 19

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