Bamana, Mali - Lot 48

Lot 48
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Estimation :
500 - 600 EUR
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Bamana, Mali - Lot 48
Bamana, Mali Ci wara crest, wood, H. 67 cm - W. 18 cm (on a base). Ci wara crests, with their abstract and zoomorphic designs, are among the best-known works of Bamana art. They were once attached to woven fiber headdresses intended to be worn on the heads of dancers. Ci wara literally means “animal that scratches (the ground)”: these depictions of the hippotrague (antelope) refer to mythical times—that is, primitive times—when the animal is said to have provided the first seed and taught the Bamana people how to work the land. These ci wara headdresses were primarily worn during ritual ceremonies related to the fertility of the fields and governed by the beginning and end of the agricultural cycle.
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