Product Description
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Bamana Maternity Figure- Mali
This beautiful Bamana seated figure, holding a child, is hermaphrodite and originates from the Bamana peoples of Mali. The style is known as Gwan, which is characterized by slender proportions, with detailed and delicate features. Gwan sculptures occur in groups and are normally enshrined. An ensemble includes a mother-and-child figure, the father, and several other male and female figures. They are considered to be extremely beautiful. They illustrate ideals of physical beauty and ideals of character and action. The figures are brought out of the shrine to appear in annual public ceremonies. It has evoked stature, with its long neck and great dignity, hieratic. Very nice patina, old wood.
Made of 100% wood.
Model is W 66 – H 14 and weight 3.8 kg.
Description
This beautiful Bamana seated figure, holding a child, is hermaphrodite and originates from the Bamana peoples of Mali. The style is known as Gwan, which is characterized by slender proportions, with detailed and delicate features. Gwan sculptures occur in groups and are normally enshrined. An ensemble includes a mother-and-child figure, the father, and several other male and female figures. They are considered to be extremely beautiful. They illustrate ideals of physical beauty and ideals of character and action. The figures are brought out of the shrine to appear in annual public ceremonies. It has evoked stature, with its long neck and great dignity, hieratic. Very nice patina, old wood.
The jo society has become a sort of framework for other initiation society. Until a few decades ago, initiation was obligatory for every young man. Jo initiations take place every seven years after candidates receive six years of special training. During this time, the young men go through a ritual death and live one week in the bush before returning to the village. There they publicly perform the dances and songsthey have learned in the bush, and receive small presents from spectators. After a ritual bath that signals the end of their animal life, the new initiates become “Jo children.”
The Bambara numbering 2,500.000 million form the largest ethnic group within Mali. The triangle of the Bambara region, divided into two parts by the Niger River, constitutes the greater part of the western and southern Mali of today. The dry savanna permits no more than a subsistence economy, and the soil produces, with some difficulty, corn, millet, sorghum, rice, and beans. Their traditions include six male societies, each with its own type of mask. Initiation for men lasts for seven years and ends with their symbolic death and their rebirth. Nearly every Bambara man had to pass through these societies in succession, until, upon reaching the highest rank, he had acquired a comprehensive knowledge of ancestral traditions.
Additional information
Weight | 3.8 kg |
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Dimensions | 14 × 66 cm |
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