Headdress "sa-sira-ren" ·  Guinea, Baga · ID: 3034646

Description

wood, shiny blackish brown patina, short post, surmounted by a female bust with face and body scarifications, pierced ears and elaborate coiffure, min. dam., minor missing parts (ears), cracks, slight traces of abrasion, wooden socle;
“sa-sira-ren” or the maiden is unequivocally the property of young unmarried men. She is the object of their desire, and the focus of important and critical entertainment. Today and perhaps in the past, she also functions politically to instill a sense of pride in Baga youth.

Comparing literature

Lamp, Frederick, Art of the Baga, New York, 1996, p. 170, ill. 158