Mask (Kwonro)

Hoisted atop a dancer's head, this mask presented lessons to young Senufo men. Such lessons were conducted by members of Poro (a men's association) in their singanga (sacred forest sanctuary). Outsiders' knowledge of this teaching is limited, but several Senufo images can be deciphered. Chameleons, a horse and rider, women pounding into mortar, and a bush cow head all appear.

Hornbills stand at the summit of the screen, with square wings and beaks curving down to touch full stomachs. Many references to fertility and fidelity derive from this image of a phallic beak meeting a pregnant belly. Hornbills are a reservoir of ancient knowledge as one of the first beings created in primordial times. In reality, they are large birds who are often seen strolling two by two, like people near the outskirts of Senufo towns. Poro officials maintained the knowledge coded in the mask and passed it on to worthy initiates.

Wood

50 x 24 3/8 x 19 in. (127 x 61.9 x 48.3 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.260

Provenance: [Furman Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1963; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryNew York, New York, Furman Gallery, Masterworks of African Art, 1961. Cat. no. 12.

New York, New York, The Museum of Primitive Art, Senufo Sculpture From West Africa, Feb. 20 - May 5, 1963 (Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, July 12 - Aug. 11, 1963; Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, Sept. 17 - Oct. 27, 1963).

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 20 (as Helmet with Screen).

Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 104-5, reproduced pl. 143 (as "kwonro" headdress).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection, July 29 - Sept. 29, 1984 (Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Oct. 31, 1984 - Feb. 25, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Apr. 6 - May 19, 1985; Fort Worth, Texas, Kimbell Art Museum, Sept. 7 - Nov. 25, 1985; Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Mar. 8 - Apr. 20, 1986). Text by Pamela McClusky. Cat. no. 41, pp. 90-91, reproduced (as Helmet mask).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, organized by the Seattle Art Museum, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005 (Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006).

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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