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This impressive sculpture of a woman
pounding
grain using a pestle and mortar was made by
the
Senufo group of the Ivory Coast area. The
figure
is traditionally Senufo in terms of elongated
proportions, a long torso and shorter legs,
while
the downturned, delicately rendered face
and
detailed coiffure are also characteristic. She
is
very curvilinear in design, with prominent
breasts
and protuberant abdomen, reiterating the
fertility-
linked iconography typical of female Senufo
sculptures. The piece is secular in that it
does not
seem to be linked to any known Senufo
religious
or ritual tradition, although it may refer to an
ancestress or other important person from
Senufo
history.
Pieces such as this are not as well known as
the
standard Senufo icon – pombilele, or rhythm
pounders – although in representing half of
an
ancestor couple the intellectual intention is
much
alike. At the heart of Senufo society is a
patriarchal group of elders known as the
Poro,
which is responsible for many religious and
secular functions to do with the running of
the
tribal group. Smaller-scale magical issues,
however, are usually dealt with by diviners or
soothsayers (sandoo). Figures representing
ancestors and spirits are used both centrally
and
in individual homes.
The Senufo group, based in the Ivory Coast
and
Mali area, migrated to their current location
from
the north during the 15th and 16th centuries
AD.
Their economy is primarily agricultural and
settled. As a result specialist trades have
become
established, primary among which is the
expert
carver. These are typically important people,
as
the Senufo have a long history of using
highly
decorated ritual and secular objects in many
aspects of everyday life. Their extremely high
level of skill in woodcarving is primarily
turned
towards magical-religious art, but secular
pieces
such as this demonstrate personal vision
that
makes for a charming piece of African art.
- (PF.4748 (LSO))
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