Senufo
Poro Association Helmet Mask (Kpònyugu)
Senufo, 1867-1899
Physical Qualities
Wood, encrustation, 10 1/2 x 39 1/4 in. (26.7 x 99.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Purchased as the gift of Janet Wurtzburger
Object Number
1966.17
These horizontal masks merge the features of two or more animals to create one frightening, otherworldly creature. Smallscale societies in the Sahel—a belt of grassland south of the Sahara—created these composite pieces to ward off evil and antisocial behavior. Each mask would have been worn by a member of a fraternal association charged with protecting the community.
Field photo:
Michel Huet, in William Fagg, African Tribal Images, 1968.
Donor (Mrs. Alan Wurtzburger) purchased from auction, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., April 21, 1966, cat. #103 (sale number 2429) -- see valuation tab for purchase price
"Subverting Beauty: African Anti-Aesthetics", Jul 15, 2018 - Nov 17, 2019, BMA, Kevin Tervala.
Parke-Bernet Galleries, "African and Oceanic Art: The Collection of Helena Rubenstein" (parts one and two), April 21 & April 29, 1966, no. 103.
Mentioned (without title) in Supplement A La "Gazette des Beaux Arts", No. 1176, Feb 1967, p 140.
Frederick Lamp, "African Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art," African Arts, XVII, 1, Nov. 1983, pp. 32-46, illus. p. 35.
Frederick Lamp, "Baltimore's African Art Collection," Topic (USIF), no. 155, pp. 30-36, repr. p. 33.
Frederick Lamp, "Art of the Baga: A Drama of Cultural Reinvention." New York: The Museum for African Art, 1996, p.148, Fig. 130.
Frederick John Lamp, "See the Music Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art." New York: Prestel, 2003, p.201, ill.
