Helmet Mask

SenufoWW-1900-013256

1900·Wood and sacrificial material·28 × 15.3 × 47 cm (11 × 6 × 18 1/2 in.)

<p>Male animal-shaped Senufo helmet masks are contrasting complements to female face masks. These works together embody harmony between male and female roles. According to Anita Glaze, a leading scholar of Senufo arts, the central principle of “pairing for perfection” in such objects aims to promote unity, continuity, wholeness, and completion.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1900
Medium: Wood and sacrificial material
Dimensions: 28 × 15.3 × 47 cm (11 × 6 × 18 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Senufo

Artist

Senufo

The Senufo or Senufic languages comprise around 15 languages spoken by the Senufo in the north of Ivory Coast, the south of Mali and the southwest of Burkina Faso. An isolated language, Nafaanra, is also spoken in the west of Ghana. The Senufo languages constitute their own branch of the Atlantic–Congo sub-family of the Niger–Congo languages. Anne Garber estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the Ethnologue, based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.

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