The Senufo people – numbering between 1 to 1.5 million and aka Siena, Senefo, Sene, Senoufo, and Syénambélé – is a West African ethno-linguistic group consisting of diverse subgroups.
Their masks are varied with a range of materials.
By far the most profound and valuable are those made of bronze. This Kpelie is such a mask with physical protuberances all around. Those imitate the human imperfections.
Authenticated Senufo masks of this quality and age are very hard to come by primarily because they have been collected heavily since the 1950s.
This one comes from an avid New York City collector of Côte d’Ivoire masks and was originally collected from a village south of Korhogo. I am not sure of the age of the mask but it was collected in the 1950s.
Stand, which is included, was added later. For the Serious Collector.