SENUFO, IVORY COAST
WOOD, HEIGHT 32CM

The influential Poro society is responsible for the traditional education of men from initiation to adult hood. They are responsible for all spiritual gatherings and also for the style and kind of masks created. This is an unusual mask, with thin slit eyes, a nose shaping upwards,  and a little crown on top of the head. The ears are square, but most unusual is the birds beak instead of a normal mouth, which indicates that this is an ancestor mask. Birds, especially hornbills are revered as the first ancestors of the Senufo.