‘Chiwara dance crests’ are among the best known and most popular objects of African art. Among the Bambara (also called Bamana), workers of the land in the savanna of Mali, it is customary that two boys should dance with these ‘antelope crests’ on their head before sowing, in order to increase the fertility of the soil. During the dance, the ‘Chiwara’ (also spelled ‘Chi wara’) are tied to plaited caps.
The present ‘Chiwara dance crest’ is a rare, highly abstract type found exclusively in the region around Bougouni and Dioila! Only in this area do Bambara carvers combine the bodies of two animals of the African savanna to form a fantastical creature: The body of a pangolin is surmounted by the neck, forelegs and head of a hippotragina (horse antelope) with its ears and ringed antlers. Two decorative prongs complete the structure. All carved from a single piece of light-coloured wood and dyed black! Despite a semblance of highly original ‘modern sculpture’, this is actually the traditional composite style of the Bambara in the Bougouni and Dioila regions. An interesting piece with minor damage due to protracted use: Colour scuffed to the edges, an old crack to the top of the left ear and a restored area (the middle prong broken and subsequently glued).
First half to mid-20th century; H: 44 cm. (ME)

Provenance: French Collection; Austrian Private Collection.

Lit.: 'Bamana' by Jean-Paul Colleyn, fig. 43, 44, 45; 'Bamana. Afrikanische Kunst aus Mali' by J.-P. Colleyn, catalogue Museum Rietberg Zurich, fig. 225–229; 'Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture' by Karl-Ferd. Schädler, fig. p. 65.