Bamana Antelope Headdress, Mali

Charles Ratton, Paris
Pierre M. Schlumberger, Houston, acquired from the above on July 23, 1969

Standing in a crouching position, there is a sense of imminent movement in the way that this alert antelope has been carved. The elegant, repeated curves of the tail, ears, and horns add to the animated quality of this piece. The face, horns, body, and tail of the animal are decorated with alternating detailed patterns, which are harmoniously juxtaposed. It has been posited that the horizontal masks are intentionally inverted, grotesque, and derisory forms of the vertical headdresses, although this theory could be questioned.

N’gonzon koun designates this horizontal headdress type, typically used during ci wara masquerades, which celebrated the skills of successful farmers and the gift of agriculture to humanity. As LaGamma notes, "Headdresses of this kind are distinctive for their formal qualities as well as for their idiosyncratic construction. All other related Bamana sculptural genres are monoxylic (carved from a single piece of wood), but these works are invariably carved as two separate units - the head and the body - which are subsequently joined together with iron staples, U-shaped nails, or metal or leather collars attached with nails” [as seen here] (Alisa LaGamma, Genesis: Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture, New York, 2002, p. 110).