Figural carved staff "tefalapica" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Sénoufo · ID: 3036559

Description

wood, partly shiny brown patina, remains of pigments, round staff, carved with a seated female figure with mask face on the back, iron pike, min. dam., cracks, traces of abrasion, small missing parts, 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.