Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire, 19th century
Cast copper alloy
Height 2 3/4 inches (7 cm)
Provenance: London trade; provincial auction, United Kingdom
The head is cast as a tapering muzzle rising to a domed brow, with the eyes set as small raised bosses at the outer edges and the nostrils marked at the tip. A pair of horns sweeps up and inward from the crown in a wide arc, each ribbed with close transverse grooves along its lower length and finishing in a smooth tapered point, and short ridged ears project beneath them. Small raised whorls sit on either cheek, the metal carries a dark green and brown surface with lighter wear on the horn tips and the brow, and a lug beneath the throat shows where the piece was attached or suspended.
Small cast figures and animal heads of this kind circulated among the Senufo of northern Côte d'Ivoire as personal objects associated with divination and protection, worn or carried rather than displayed. The buffalo appears throughout Senufo art, in helmet masks and in cast work, as an animal of the bush and of dangerous power rather than as a domestic beast. Casting at this scale by the lost wax process leaves little room for correction, and the horns, ears, and suspension lug are all intact.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Senufo, Côte d'Ivoire, 19th century
Cast copper alloy
Height 2 3/4 inches (7 cm)
Provenance: London trade; provincial auction, United Kingdom
The head is cast as a tapering muzzle rising to a domed brow, with the eyes set as small raised bosses at the outer edges and the nostrils marked at the tip. A pair of horns sweeps up and inward from the crown in a wide arc, each ribbed with close transverse grooves along its lower length and finishing in a smooth tapered point, and short ridged ears project beneath them. Small raised whorls sit on either cheek, the metal carries a dark green and brown surface with lighter wear on the horn tips and the brow, and a lug beneath the throat shows where the piece was attached or suspended.
Small cast figures and animal heads of this kind circulated among the Senufo of northern Côte d'Ivoire as personal objects associated with divination and protection, worn or carried rather than displayed. The buffalo appears throughout Senufo art, in helmet masks and in cast work, as an animal of the bush and of dangerous power rather than as a domestic beast. Casting at this scale by the lost wax process leaves little room for correction, and the horns, ears, and suspension lug are all intact.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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