Bronze Mask Kpelie

It represents a woman's face and in the wooden masks the protrusion of the forehead in the center of an "X" or a cross recalls Koultyolo, and also symbolizes the fertility and sexuality of the woman.

Not in all regions callKpeliéThese masks, some of them.SenufoThey call themKepeliqueorKodaliéWhatever its name, these masks remind the neophytes of the Pore of the ritual of the cut of the first beard, a practice that is named afterKpeliriHis ceremony recalls the imperfection and precariousness caused by the first adultery. These masks may be male or female, but they always come out in pairs. The clothes change accordingly. Used by the members of the society of the pore. He represents the founders of the ethnic group and participates in the “Lô” ceremony. They usually carry various motifs over their heads depending on the group they represent: The calao, symbol of blacksmiths, the palm nut symbol of sculptors or human figures to represent traders. If she's a woman figure she could represent Katieleo, the village's old mother, a protective figure of the Senufo. On this mask stands a symbol from which a kind of arms of difficult interpretation depart on the sides of the forehead.The dark patina of this mask denotes an important anatigüety for a bronze mask.