This impressive dark wood figure of a woman and a
child is a Guandousou “queen” figure from the
Bamana of Mali. It is a traditional rendering of this
socially important art form, with a quadrupedal stand,
tiny legs, a wide base tapering to an hourglass torso,
extremely long arms, breasts rendered as a solid
two-part block and a long neck. The hands
protectively encircle a small child who is gripping
rather precariously onto the front of her body, the
head turned to the viewer’s left. The woman’s head is
oval and bears a tall, conical hat/headdress, with a
serene face bearing tin features and framed by
graceful braids of hair that spiral down to each
breast. Patination is matte and irregular.
The Bambara/Bamana are one of the largest groups
in Mali (about 2.5 million) and lives in a savannah
grassland area that contrasts strongly with the
Dogon heartland. Their linguistic heritage indicates
that they are part of the Mande group, although their
origins go back perhaps as far as 1500 BC in the
present-day Sahara. They gave rise to the Bozo, who
founded Djenne in an area subsequently overrun by
the Soninke Mande (<1100 AD). Their last empire
dissolved in the 1600s, and many Mande speakers
spread out along the Nigeria River Basin. The Bamana
empire arose from these remnant populations in
around 1740. The height of its imperial strength was
reached in the 1780s under the rule of Ngolo Diarra,
who expanded their territory considerably.
They have a very complex caste-based social system,
while age, sex and occupation groups are also
classed to reflect their social importance. This
complex structure is echoed in the systematics of
indigenous art traditions. Everyday items include iron
staffs, wooden puppets and equestrian figures; their
sexually-constructed anthropomorphic door locks are
especially well-known. There are four main mask
forms, related to the n’tomo, Komo, Nama and Kore
societies. Heavily encrusted zoomorphic Boli figures
serve an apotropaic function, but the Bamana’s best-
known sculptures are the Guandousou, Guantigi and
Guanyenni figures, that are used by the Gwan secret
society to promote fertility and social balance.
This piece – the Guandousou “queen” figure – is the
central focus of the ceremony. Her spouse is a
Guantigi male (“king”) sculpture, who balances and
complements her fertility, and they are supported by
a series of five Guanyenni attendants (“companions”)
that symbolise fertility and nurturing as well as
waiting upon the main two figures. The sculptures are
usually stored in niches by members of the Gwan
secret society, from whence they are taken annually,
oiled, dressed, prayed over, displayed then returned
to their place. Old examples of this tradition date
back to before the 16th century AD; the current
example would appear to date from somewhere in the
first half of the 20th century.
This is a beautiful and important piece of African art.
