Helmet Mask

Description

Male animal-shaped Senufo helmet masks are contrasting complements to female face masks. These works together embody harmony between male and female roles. According to Anita Glaze, a leading scholar of Senufo arts, the central principle of “pairing for perfection” in such objects aims to promote unity, continuity, wholeness, and completion.

Provenance

Anita J. Glaze, from 1964 or 1965, Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire, and later Illinois [documentation provided by the donor, copy in curatorial records]; given to the Art Institute, 2019.

Helmet Mask

Senufo

Early/mid-20th century

Accession Number

249232

Medium

Wood and sacrificial material

Dimensions

28 × 15.3 × 47 cm (11 × 6 × 18 1/2 in.)

Classification

masks

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Anita Glaze