Pair of Serpent Headdresses (A-MANTSHO-NA-TSHOL) in carved wood with pigment by Baga artists, Guinea, Africa, early-20th century. From the Casamance region of Senegal to that of the Fouta Djallon in northern Guinea, the supreme manifesation of spiritual force is referred to as Ninkinanka. Associated with the danger of the boa constrictor and the allure of luminous rainbows, Ninkinanka may satisfy a petitioner’s deepest desires, whether for rain, worldly riches, or to be cured for infertility, but at potentially great cost. In Baga society, celebrations marking the culminatin of male initiation rites have evoked this force through an undulating column rising heavenward, referred to as the “master of medicine”, or a-Mantsho-na-Tshol.
During the 1950’s, Baga communities underwent forced conversion to Islam that led to the abandonment of earlier religious and artistic traditions. A campaign of attacks against those practices resulted in the confiscation and sale or destruction of creations such as these. A decade later, indigenous religious practices were outlawed entirely by the Marxist nation government of Guinea’s first head of state, Sekou Toure. While no record exists of the once dynamic performance genre that incorporated such sculptures, they were likely positioned at the summit of a costume. Secured over the head of an especially strong dancer within a conical framework of palm branches. It was accented with decorative feathers and streamers.
Reference:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, The African Origin of Civilization by Diana Craig Patch and Alisa LaGamma, Spring 2022. There is a photo of this same type of sculpture on page 40 with the description quoted above.
Dimensions of Large Headdress:
W: 12 inches
D: 9 inches
H: 83 inches
Dimensions of Small Headdress:
W: 13 inches
D: 9 inches
H: 61 inches
Condition: Excellent original antique condition
SOLD
ref: sculpture165
