Anneau de silence "nyi-kar-yi" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Sénoufo · ID: 3045655

Description

bronze, cast in lost form, base

These rings were awarded to the young men at the conclusion of their initiation into the “Iô” society.

According to Goldwater, after returning to the village, they wore the rings in their mouths to pay their respect to the elders of society. In this fashion the young men enacted for all to see a ritual symbolizing the silence they must henceforth observe concerning the secret knowledge and practices of the “Iô” society, of which they were now accepted members.

Littérature comparée

Museum of Primitive Art (ed.), Robert Goldwater, A Memorial Exhibition, New York 1973, ill. 139 ff.