31
FEMALE FIGURE Mali, Senufo, Zignasso village Wood H. 19 cm. Dakar-Djibouti expedition 1931-1933 (illus. page 71) SENUFO sculpture has a number of uses connected with the men's porn and the women's sandogo societies. Usually small figures like this one were associated with divination done by both men and women whose social necessity was great because it explained causes of individual or group calamities and decided issues of guilt and innocence. Collected in the region of Sikasso in Mali by the Dakar-Djibouti expedition, this piece is from the northern Senufo. As a work whose area of collection is known, it is important for the light it casts on the question of regional styles. Most Senufo people live further south, in the Ivory Coast, where they are the dominant group. Their sculpture is carved by a separate group of blacksmiths who live apart and who marry only among themselves. Women of the blacksmith group are the potters of the region. Seen in a photograph with no dimensions, this piece could be considered several times larger than its actual size. Though small, its powerful curving arms, simplified forms, and unadorned surfaces give an impression of monumentality. Small African sculptures often deceive us as to their size because their power is equal to what we expect from larger works. This figure, with its sophisticated play of solids against voids, is a marvel of abstraction based on visual reality. The Musee de l'Homme collection contains few Senufo pieces of this quality, a lack that can be explained by the fact the the Dakar-Djibouti expedition passed only through the edge of Senufo territory, and did not pause there long. The museum never sent other missions to the area, and hence never acquired the rich group of well-documented pieces that it has, for example, from the Dogon.
32
KNEELING FIGURE Guinea, Pomdo style Stone H. 11 cm. August Chevalier gift 1936 (illus. page 72) THE Kissi, when they find stone figures such as this, call them "Pomdo," meaning "images of the dead," and since figures in this style are found mainly in the area inhabited by the Kissi today, the African-art literature usually lists the provenance of such figures as "Kissi." It might, however, be more accurate to refer to them as "Pomdo style," because we do not know who made them, and stone figures in a given style may be found throughout a wide area encompassing several ethnic groups. "Pomdo style" sculptures are generally columnar in form with compact limbs and features and a marked vertical axis. These contrast with the horizontally oriented figures in "Nomoli" style, which tend to have cantilevered heads, protruding features, and projecting limbs. The figure here is a fine and classic example of Pomdo style. Notches in the lower area carve out radiating cones that form the feet, knees, and belly. Grooved and hatched surfaces, typical of Pomdo style, are here well used to produce a dense and ferocious aspect that magnifies the small size of the sculpture. Sharply slanting eyes and an open mouth displaying rows of teeth are characteristic features of Pomdo style that contribute to the power of this dynamic little figure.
Published: Goldwater 1964, pl. 121
131 COPYRIGHT PROTECTED