Mask Yelmo Funebre Deguele

It is a mask of the Senufo group called “Kiembara” of the Korhogo region. It is a female mask, although there are also male masks. Like other categories of masks, they manifest in pairs. Represents a woman with a ringed neckand pronounced breasts under an elongated face. The male mask wears a carcaj on the back. This mask is covered by the great dignitaries in whose funerals appear to accompany their souls to the hereafter.It belongs to the higher grades of the “Lô”. He actively participates in the initiation ceremonies and also makes his appearance in ceremonies intended to represent the mythical concepts of his cosmogony.

They are objects of art; they are an intermediate figure between the mask and the statue. A kind of statue without arms. The body is ringed, like forming a long neck; is mounted on a kind of helmet or capirote in which slits have been arranged to facilitate vision. It is made from a single piece of wood whose interior has been hollowed out.

The power of the mask lies in the number of overlapping rings that compose the trunk or neck of the statue. Each of the rings has a precise volume of supernatural energy acquired during initiation into the society of the Pore.

Dark patina.