Standing bird figure "porpianong" · Côte d'Ivoire, Senufo · ID: 3038899
not available anymore
Provenance
Charles Meier, Los Angeles, USASize
H: 83 cm
H: 32.7 inch
Description
light brown wood, dark brown patina, elongated beak, resting on the bulging chest, min. dam., missing parts through insect caused damage (wings, back, base), fine cracks, traces of abrasion, base;
probably representing a hornbill. The “bird” is one of the primal beings in the Senufo cosmology. It clearly has the belly of a pregnant woman, as well as a phallic beak. It is simultaneously female and male.
Comparing literature
Phillips, Tom (Hg.), Afrika, Die Kunst eines Kontinents, Berlin 1996, p. 457, ill. 5.124