Bambara mask, Mali - Lot 137

Lot n° 137
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Estimation :
3000 - 5000 EUR
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Result : 5 500EUR
Bambara mask, Mali - Lot 137
Bambara mask, Mali Wood H. 42 cm Provenance : Paul and Jacqueline Canfère collection acquired from Jean-Michel Huguenin (according to oral information from descendants). Among the Korè masks of the Bamana population of present-day Mali, the sukuru masks incarnating a hyena display great purity of line. During the ritual, every seven years, at the end of the dry season, young adolescents are symbolically killed in the Korè grove in order to resurrect as adults. During this initiation, they are taught funeral rites, moral resistance, physical endurance, and secret cults. This type of mask was used during this initiation ceremony of Korè. The face is inscribed in a beautiful concave oval, the long linear nose in relief, rising to the top of the forehead, separates the two eye cavities. The square shape of the eyes, largely hollowed out, intensifies the symbolism of the clairvoyance of the mask, of the one who looks through it. The erect ears continue in the same curved line to the lower jaw of the rectangular, half-open muzzle. The patina bears witness not only to the passage of time, but also to the ancient treatment that these masks received, which were ritually washed, coated with lime, ashes, earth and blood.
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