Collection Online as of May 28, 2023

Face Mask

early 1900s

attributed to Sabariko Koné

(Senufo, d. c. 1950)

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire

Wood, upholstery studs, resin, and paint

Overall: 31.6 x 16.7 x 11.4 cm (12 7/16 x 6 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1989.48

Location

not on view

Description

Face masks like this example are most typically worn during initiation and funerary rituals of a poro association, an age-based organization with religious and sociopolitical responsibilities. Though only worn by men, the masks have facial characteristics that are essentially female, and their imagery is closely related to ideas of sexuality and fertility. The scarification mark on this mask’s forehead is an oblique symbol of a woman’s genitalia, while its lustrous black surface imitates a woman’s oiled, smooth skin—a sign of ideal feminine beauty.

Sabariko Koné

See http://www.mappingsenufo.org/archives/734

Provenance

?-1989

James Freeman, Kyoto, Japan

1989-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by purchase

Citations

Drewal, Henry John. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 114 www.jstor.org

Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 6, p. 42 - 43

Gagliardi, Susan Elizabeth, and Constantijn Petridis. Senufo Unbound: Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. fig. 103, pp. 152-3

Petridis, Constantine, and Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, "Mapping Senufo: Making Visible Debatable Information and Situated Knowledge" Emily Lew Fry and Erin Canning, eds., Perspectives on Data (Art Institute of Chicago, 2022). Fig. 9 www.artic.edu

Exhibition history

CMA 1991: "Notable Acquisitions," Bulletin 78 (June 1991), p. 114, repr.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (2/22/15-5/31/15) Saint Louis Art Museum (6/28/15-9/27/15) Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (11/28/15-3/6/16) "Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa"

The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/26/2017-7/16/2017); “African Master Carvers: Known and Famous”.

Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).

Senufo: Art and Identity in West Africa. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 22-May 31, 2015); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (June 28-September 27, 2015); Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (November 28, 2015-March 6, 2016).

African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).