Funeral Head mask (Kponungo)
Senufo horizontal masks are armed with confrontational features: baboon-like creatures with tiny eyes, enlarged teeth and distorted faces, disheveled costumes and restless behavior. These masked mediators often appear at the death of an important person, guarding the living and encouraging the deceased to return to an ancestral village.
Wood, polychrome
9 7/8 x 17 7/16 x 9 7/16 in. (25.1 x 44.3 x 24 cm)
Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection
51.13
Provenance: Mathias Komor, New York; to SAM 1951; Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection