This mask type, known as ‘Kpelie mask’ or ‘Kodal mask’, is one of the best known masks of the Senufo people. They are frequently used by initiation groups and on the occasion of funerals. ‘Kpelie masks’ can have crests of disparate forms. The present ‘Kpelie mask’ features a ‘Calao bird’ (hornbill), the ‘sacred animal’ of the Senufo people, with open wings. This relatively small ‘Kpelie mask’ displays all the characteristic features of this type: the symmetrical projections on both sides of the mask face, the pointed forehead, slit eyes, a long, narrow, concave nose, scarification marks on both cheeks, a round, protruding, small mouth with two rows of teeth and the outline of a lip plug extending from the lower lip to the pointed chin. Whether the two ‘legs’ symbolise parts of sacrificial animals (chicken or wether) or represent abstract ‘plaits’ is still a controversial issue in specialised literature. It is clear, however, that they are not actual ‘legs’.
The mask is carved from hard, brown wood and coloured black and brown on the front side. It has good patina on the outside as well as on the inside (!), shows slight colour abrasion to areas in relief and only minor age damage (a tear to the right wing of the bird and small pieces broken off on the back rim).
First half of the 20th century; H: 25 cm. (ME)

Lit.: ‘Senufo. Die Kunst der Elfenbeinküste’ by Hans-Joachim Koloß and Till Föster, Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin, fig. 28, 29; ‘Trésors de Cote d'Ivoire’ by Francois Neyt, fig. 84, 86, 87.