Amongst the Bambara farmers in the savanna of Mali, two young men with such crests dance before the seed-sowing season. With one female antelope dance crest and one male. These crests are fixed to plaited caps and worn on the head. The dancers, in full body costumes, should secure and increase the fertility of the fields. The present male ‘Chiwara antelope’ is carved from light coloured, hard wood and coloured black and brown. It is made of two parts, head and body, and connected by two iron clamps at the neck. It is of the ‘horizontal’ type of Chiwara, as is common throughout Bamako and in the region north-west of the capital city. It has one peculiarity: this 'Chiwara-antelope' has four horns. The two typical, long horns horizontally curved towards the back and two smaller horns placed higher up on the head. The head has applied eyes of iron, an open mouth with tongue and decoration of dots and lines. The two small ears, which lie facing to the back, are pierced and decorated with textile tassels. The body of the antelope is decorated with many etched, straight, crossed and hatched lines and the tail is rolled into a circle. A perfectly formed example of this ‘horizontal’ type of a ‘Chiwara antelope’ of the Bambara. With good, mostly shiny usage patina. No damage. H: c. 26 cm, L: 53 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance: Austrian Private Collection.

Lit.: ‘Bamana. Afrikanische Kunst aus Mali' by Jean-Paul Colleyn, Rietberg Museum Zurich, figs. 213-222 (two of these with four horns); 'Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture’ by K.-F. Schädler, ill. p. 62.