Horned Mask with Birds

Origin: Senufo Tribe, Ivory Coast
Composition: lost wax-cast bronze

The Senufo have a long tradition of dancing bronze and brass masks alongside wooden ones at important ceremonies. This mask would have been danced by men performing in female charachter. There are hundreds of variations of Senufo bronze masks, and their symbolism is rich and esoteric. Many encode knowledge of the Poro secret society, and appear in restricted Poro dances as well as in public dances that everyone can attend. (Ref: Visona, A History of Art In Africa).

The 1.5 million Senufo tribespeople live principally off the fruits of agriculture and occasionally hunting. They inhabit villages governed by a council of elders, who in turn are led by a chief elected from their number. Tribal cohesion is reinforced through the rituals of the Poro (men's) and Sandogo (women's) societies that initiate and educate children from the age of seven onwards. The Senufo art is characterized by its highly realistic features and highly geometric shapes that emphasize rhythm and the opposition between void (negative) and full spaces (Bacquart,  Tribal Arts of Africa).