251240 - Old African Ci Wara Headdress on stand - Mali.
Mali: Rare and old African Ci Wara Headdress with stand.
Hand carved from a single piece of wood.
Size: 32 cmhigh with stand. 24 cm high without stand.
This abstract Chi wara (also Chiwara, Ci Wara, or Tyi Wara; Bambara: ciwara; French: tchiwara) is a ritual object used by the Bambara ethnic group in Mali. The Chiwara initiation community uses Chiwara masks, as well as dances and rituals primarily related to agriculture, to teach young Bambara men social values and farming techniques.
The appearance of the Chiwara form varies greatly both by region and time produced. Specific master wood carvers also subtly modified the accepted (or even religiously mandated) local forms, forming a distinct "signature" or "school" of Chiwara figures. These regional variations have been roughly assigned the stylistic categories above. Thus the Bougouni / Southern region style are an amalgam of several animal motifs combined in the same work, in an abstract style; the Bamako / Northern region style is usually of the horizontal style; the Segu/ Northern region style (the heartland of the Bambara Empire) matches the vertical style with the unique "cut out" triangular body motif of the males.