Masque, Sénufo, Côte d'Ivoire

kpelie, à l'étroit visage marqué par la tension de ses lignes - nez étiré dont la courbe accentue la profondeur de la face concave, bouche fermement tendue vers l'avant. Le dynamisme du visage est accentué par le rythme des appendices projetés en haut relief, dont les formes géométriques jouent sur le vide et le plein, et par le cercle majestueux formé au sommet par les cornes recourbées l'une vers l'autre. Belle patine sombre, huileuse.

Charles Ratton, Paris
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1935
Acquis auprès de Pierre Matisse le 27 avril 1935 par John P. Anderson, Red Wing, Minnesota (justificatifs : lettre et facture)
Transmis par descendance familiale

African Sculptures from the Ratton Collection, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 30 mars - 20 avril 1935

The two ends of the lower patterns have been broken, repaired (glue)
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Sa date d'exposition à la galerie Pierre Matisse à New York, en 1935, permet de confirmer l'ancienneté du style - petit visage étroit aux traits concentrés - de ce beau masque kpelie, datant probablement de la fin du XIX^e siècle.

Selon Garrard (in Barbier, 1993 : 86-105), les masques kpelie, intervenant dans la société masculine du poro, ont été inspirés du do - en particulier du masque do muso ("belle femme") des Dyula, dont les Sénufo partagent l'espace géographique, autour de Kong et de Bondoukou. Ainsi, les formes coudées flanquant le menton seraient les interprétations stylisées des ornements d'oreilles des anciens masques de Bondoukou. Garrard (idem) place tôt dans l'évolution stylistique des masques Sénufo ceux dont les appendices ne dépassent que de très peu la ligne du menton, comme ici. L'ancienneté de ce masque est confirmée par la patine huileuse et la très belle qualité de sculpture de la face interne.

A Senufo mask, Côte d'Ivoire

Having been exhibited at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York in 1935 helps to suggest that this beautiful kpelie mask, with its small, narrow face and concentrated features, is of an old style and probably dates to the end of the 19^th century.

According to Garrard (in Barbier, 1993: 86-105), kpelie masks, used in the male poro society, were inspired by the do – in particular the do muso mask ('beautiful woman') of the Dyula, with whom the Senufo share the lands surrounding Kong and Bondoukou. The curved forms which flank the chin were stylised interpretations of the earrings found on old masks from Bondoukou. Garrard (ibid.) places masks such as this, in which the appendages only slightly exceed the line of the chin, amongst the earliest in the stylistic evolution of Senufo masks. The age of this mask is confirmed by the oily patina and the exceptionally fine quality of the carving on the inside of the face.