Mali: a large 'Chiwara-dance crest' in the form of a male antelope. Style: Ségou region. workers of the land in the Mali savanna, two young men dance with such antelope crests, known as ‘Chiwara’ (also ‘Ci-wara’), on their heads before the seed-sowing season. The aim of the ritual is to increase and secure fertility. During the dance, the ‘Chiwara’ are fixed on to plaited caps. The present ‘antelope crest’ is an especially large and very good example of the ‘classical’, tall, vertical style. It depicts a male hippotragina (horse antelope) carved in hard, brown wood and dyed black. It has heavy, spiralled and twisting horns, a large head partly decorated with detailed chip-carving in relief, together with an open mouth and a magnificent mane. The eyes are made from small, metal nails and the long, narrow nose is pierced at the front. An old iron ring hangs on the left ear of the animal as decoration. The flanks on both sides of the body are retracted (rare). This powerful hippotragina stands on sturdy, short legs on a thick base. It is carved from a single piece. The ‘Chiwara antelope’ can be attached to the plaited cap of the dancer through 4 holes in the base.
A magnificent example of this type of dance crest, in the style of the Ségou region, found on the Niger river, in the northern area of the Bambara. A small, minimal colour scuff above on the left horn. Otherwise in perfect condition. No damage. Height: 72 cm; first half of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
Pursuant to information supplied by the consigner, the present item was acquired at the Galerie Jean-Jacques Dutko, Paris, at the end of the 1970s/beginning of the 1980s. Since then: Austrian private collection.

Lit.:
'Bamana. Afrikanische Kunst aus Mali’ by Jean-Paul Colleyn, Catalogue Rietberg Museum Zurich, ill. 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192.