1/2 PRICE OFF ! PAINTED SENUFO FIRESPITTER MASK Start Price USD 750.00 Current Price USD 750.00 Time Left 11 days 9 hours 33 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, November 19, 2008 End Time Sunday, January 18, 2009 Location TANQUE VERDE VALLEY See more about ' 1/2 PRICE OFF ! PAINTED SENUFO FIRESPITTER MASK' Description SENUFO KPONUNGO - FIRESPITTER  IVORE'  COAST 12" TALL x 20" LONGMID 20TH CENTURY  A MUSEUM QUALITY ONE GOOD WEAR AND  ENCRUSTACION,                  Scattered across the Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso and extreme south of Mali, 1 to 1.5 million Senufo people live principally off the fruits of agriculture and occasionally hunting. Villages are composed of 800 to 1200 inhabitants  broken up into units of matrilineal lineage descending from a common ancestor. They are governed by a council of elders, who in turn are led by a chief elected from their number. The Senufo have a vital masquerading tradition associated with various male societies,. The ancestor cult mask like this one, of the IO society, are   used during the circumcision and fertility ceremonies. The Senufo are made up of a number of diverse subgroups that migrated into their current location from the north during the 15th and 16th centuries. Unlike their neighbors to the north they have remained relatively sheltered from intrusive cultures including the Songhai and Hausa. Although they have certainly borrowed knowledge from their neighbors, they have not had to fear constant attacks and social upheaval.  Scattered across the Ivorie Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso.  They inhabit villages governed by a council of elders who in turn are lead by a chief elected from their number.  Tribal cohesion is reinforced through the rituals of the Poro society who initiate and educate the men from the age of 7 onwards.  Senufo theology is based on Koulotiolo, a powerful god, and Katieleo a goddess mother, who through the rituals of the Poro society regenerates the world. This zoomorphic mask belong to the Wabele society, active among the southern Senufo in the densly populated area around the city of Korhogo. The task of this group is to detect and destroy negative forces (dee bele) and harmful spirits (nika'abele) who, in the shape of monsters or wild animals, threaten people in times of crisis or vunerability, as, for instance, during burial ceremonies. The threatening appearance of the Wanyugo masks benefits their purpose of battling evil. Powerful jaws with sharp teeth, recalling a crocodile's or hyena's snout, and tusks like those of a warthog, underscore the aggressive nature of these masks, which on occasion are said to have emitted swarms of bees or blasts of fire. The masks derive their power from magical/medicinal substances (wah) placed in the small cup on their heads, which in this Janus-headed example is held by two chameleons. But the magic cannot take full effect until the mask is supplemented by a costume of cotton fabric (wao, pl. wabele), and danced to music in context of the ceremony. Due to the dangerous forces they embody, masks, costumes and appurtenances are treated with extreme caution, and are kept in an isolated shelter in the bush, or stored together with the paraphernalia of the Poro society in a sacred grove. Older examples of the Wanyugo such as the example to the left, made in the 1950's prior to the iconoclastic ravages of the Massa religious movement, are marked by a strikingly simple composition. More recent versions, in contrast, show great elaboration and are brightly painted.  The large horizontal masks, composites of several animals, were called Kponungo, or "funeral head masks". The term "Firespitter" is used by outsiders. Used by both Poro and non-Poro male societies, these helmet masks embodied an aggressive supernatural power to combat any forces that might disrupt the well-being of the community. The powerful features of antelopes, buffaloes, crocodiles, warthogs, hornbills, chameleons and humans combined to symbolize power and to recall important myths.  They were used in anti-witchcraft ceremonies. VALUE 1,000+  DANCED   TO REPRESENT MYTHICAL MONSTERS AT AGRICULTURAL AND FUNERAL  FUNCTIONS. TRADITIONALLY THE WEAR WOULD BLOW ACROSS A BURNING EMBER SO THAT THE MASK WOULD APPEAR TO SPIT FIRE OUT.   IT IS IN EXCELLENT  CONDITION SHIPPING  $ 30.000 +/-  USA $50+/-.00 + INTERNATIONAL.INSURANCE INCLUDED  NO RESERVE .                    *** Please note that all old used Arts will have minor imperfections, chips, age                    cracks and other minor irregularities. *** If you cannot live with that or want a                   perfect piece, Please do not bid as old used items are never perfect. 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