Examples of various types of Senufo "firespitter" masks for reference
Below are just a few different examples of these masks.
Please keep in mind that there is a wide range of stylistic differences that is not represented here.
Examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Click on image to see full size version
Examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Click on image to see full size version
Examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Click on image to see full size version
Examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Click on image to see full size version
Sotheby's - New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art
Auction Date : Nov 11, 2004

Lot 59 :  A FINE SENUFO FIRESPITTER MASK

Description
of helmet shaped form and enormous proportions, the bovine face baring teeth and horns at the snout, the
crest-like nose leading to a domed forehead with a bird and a bowl carved in high relief and surmounted by
backswept arching horns, indigenous repairs at the nose and reverse; fine deep brown surface.

Dimensions
length 46 in. 117cm


Estimate:$ 12,000 - $ 18,000  
Price Realized:$ 21,600

Provenance
PROPERTY OF VARIOUS OWNERS

Samuel Dubiner Collection

Published
Bezalel National Museum, African Art: Collection Samuel Dubiner, 1960: figure 28, catalogue of the exhibition,
Jerusalem, August 7 - October 7, 1960 and Tel Aviv 1960.
Sotheby's - New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art
Auction Date : May 12, 2005

Lot 47 :  PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION A SENUFO FIRESPITTER HELMET MASK

Description
of large proportions and abstract zoomorphic form, the faceted snout baring jagged teeth, the thin medial
ridge leading to downcast eyes and framed by pointed, backswept ears; aged blackened surface with areas
of red pigment; the interior covered with micaceaous pigment.

CATALOGUE NOTE
Cf. Goldwater (1964: figure 56) for a related mask of similar strong and compact features collected in the
Faïdonga village, Korhogo district, by F.-H. Lem.

Dimensions
length 17 3/4 in. 45cm

Estimate:$ 7,000 - $ 10,000  
Price Realized:$ 4,800
Sotheby's - New York
African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art
Auction Date : Nov 11, 2004

Lot 47 :  A SENUFO FIRESPITTER HELMET MASK

Description
of bovine form, the open mouth baring teeth beneath the ridged nose bisecting inset metal
eyes and framed by pointed, backswept ears; heavily encrusted greyish patina.

Dimensions
length 19 1/2 in. 49.5cm


Estimate:$ 5,000 - $ 7,000  Price Realized:$ 0    


Provenance
PROPERTY FROM A MIDWEST PRIVATE COLLECTION

B. C. Holland, Chicago
Sotheby's - New York
Arts of Africa, Oceania & The Americas
Auction Date : May 17, 2002

Lot 88 :  A SENUFO FIRESPITTER HELMET MASK

Description
of hollowed form, the bushcow with open mouth pierced through for vision, the teeth carved in two rows and framed by
two sets of tusks, and the head with two pair of spiralling horns, surmounted by a bird interlocked with a chameleon on the
crown; greyish brown patina overall.


Estimate:$ 8,000 - $ 12,000  Price Realized:$ 0    


Provenance
Acquired in the Côte d'Ivoire in the 1930's by Simon Escarré
Sotheby's - New York
Arts of Africa, Oceania & The Americas
Auction Date : May 17, 2002

Lot 86 :  A FINE SENUFO JANUS FIRESPITTER HELMET MASK

Description
waniougo, of hollowed form, with two large adorsed animal faces, each with open mouth baring
pointed teeth and framed by sets of horns, and sharing a raised pointed ear on either side,
two chameleons holding a vessel and framed by two horns at the crest; fine aged greyish
brown patina and decorated with mottled traces of red ochre and kaolin.


Estimate:$ 7,000 - $ 10,000  Price Realized:$ 0    


Provenance
Egon Guenther, Johannesburg Cf. Goldwater (1964: figure 58) for a closely related example.
According to Goldwater, the cup at the crest would have been filled with a substance called wa,
which guarantees the success of the ritual.
Christie's - Paris
Collection Patrice Trigano Itinéraire d'une passion
Auction Date : Jul 5, 2005

Lot 136 :  MASQUE HEAUME SENOUFO


Description
Côte d'Ivoire
Cracheur de feu, de forme janus, les gueules ouvertes montrant des crocs, une paire de
cornes à la commissure des lèvres, une autre sur le museau et une autre au dessus des
yeux, le sommet du crâne supportant un receptacle tenu par un caméléon, à décor en
pointillés rouges et blancs sur fond noir, un visage sculpté sur une paire de cornes. Manques.
Hauteur: 80 cm.


Estimate:€ 1,000 - € 1,500
Price Realized: $ 3,181 / € 2,640
ART AFRICAIN ET OCÉANIEN, COLLECTION PAOLO MORIGI
SALE PF5027

SESSION 1 | 06 Dec 05

LOCATION Paris
LOT 42
BEAU MASQUE-HEAUME, SÉNUFO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Estimate 25,000—30,000 EUR
Lot Sold.  Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:   50,400 EUR
MEASUREMENTS


measurements
long. 93 cm

alternate measurements
36 1/2 in long.


DESCRIPTION
wanyugu, zoomorphe, présentant une tête hybride de hyène à mâchoire de crocodile, encadrée de défenses de phacochère et surmontée de longues
cornes d'antilope, aux extrémités recourbées l'une vers l'autre. Le sommet est orné d'une composition offrant au premier plan un couple de personnages,
et à l'arrière un calao becquetant un caméléon. Ce dernier tient deux cornes encadrant une coupelle à substances magiques. Belle patine noire.
L'intérieur porte, inscrit à l'encre blanche, le numéro d'inventaire dans la collection Keller : G.F.K. 129.


Condition Note: Défense droite, personnage masculin et caméléon cassés et recollés.

PROVENANCE
Ancienne collection Philipp Goldman, Londres
Ancienne collection Helmut Gernsheim Londres-Lugano
Ancienne collection Keller (inv. G.F.K. 129)

CATALOGUE NOTE
Dans le complexe et large corpus des masques heaumes zoomorphes utilisés par les Sénufo, celui de la collection Morigi se distingue :
- stylistiquement, par ses belles qualités formelles, en particulier l'architecture de sa composition et la tension de ses lignes stylisées;
- iconographiquement, par la représentation peu commune du couple de personnages qui le surmonte.

cf. Dapper, 1995 : 219 pour un masque stylistiquement proche dans la collection du musée Dapper.

Les masques zoomorphes wanyugo, caractérisés par leur aspect agressif - gueule de crocodile ou de hyène, défenses de phacochères - sont perçus par
les Sénufo comme des masques violents, dont les pouvoirs sont mis au service soit de la société initiatique poro, afin de maintenir l'ordre social, soit
d'associations plus restreintes, dans le cadre de pratiques anti-sorcellerie.
La coupelle sculptée au sommet de ce masque-heaume, destinée à contenir les substances magiques (wah) qui lui confèrent ses pouvoirs, permet de
l'identifier comme appartenant vraisemblablement à la société wabele, chargée de détecter et d'anéantir les sorcières et les esprits maléfiques.

A fine Senufo firespitter helmet mask, Ivory Coast

In the complex and extensive corpus of zoomorphic helmet mask helmets used by the Senufo, the Morigi mask is highly unusual :
- stylistically the mask is distinguished by its fine formal qualities, in particular the architecture of its composition and the tension of its lines;
- iconographically, by the unusual representation of the pair of figures forming its crest.

See Dapper, 1995: 219 for a stylistically similar mask in the Dapper Museum collection.

The zoomorphic wanyugo masks, characterised by their aggressive appearance – crocodile or hyena jaw, warthog tusks – are perceived by the Senufo as
violent masks, whose powers are employed either on behalf of the Poro initiation society to maintain social order, or with more limited associations as part
of anti-witchcraft practices.

The cup carved on the crest of the mask helmet, destined to contain the magic substances (wah) which confer its powers, identifies the piece as probably
belonging to the wabele society, responsible for detecting and destroying sorcerers and evil spirits.
AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART
SALE N07845
AUCTION DATE SESSION 1 | 15 Nov 02

LOCATION - New York
LOT 32

Property of Various Owners
A FINE SENUFO FIRESPITTER MASK

Estimate 6,000—9,000 USD
Lot Sold.  Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:   5,975 USD

MEASUREMENTS
length 33in. 83.8cm

DESCRIPTION
the hollowed helmet mask, with a massive snout showing rows of open work teeth extending to the front, and decorated with three sets of horns framed by a
set of large concave oval ears to either side; exceptionally fine encrusted deep brown and black patina.


Provenance:
Acquired in Paris in the late 1950s
Morton Dimondstein, Los Angeles
The mask above is in the collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art

HELMET MASK
kponyungo
Senufo peoples, Côte d’Ivoire
20th century
Wood
105.4 x 36.8 x 31.8 cm (41 ½ x 14 ½ x 12 ½ in.)
Collection Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Museum purchase with funds provided by the
Frieda and Milton F. Rosenthal Acquisition Fund (EL 1980.02.01)

Provenance:
Morris Pinto, Paris

The name kponyungo, attributed to this helmet mask, derives from the words kpoo and nyungo and is translated “head of a deceased one” (Bickford,
1997: 117), thus alluding to its use at funerals.  Masked performers dance around the cadaver at funerals of important male and female elders of the
powerful Poro society, an association found among the Senufo people in Côte d’Ivoire. “They beat drums that have been placed on the torso of the
deceased in order to ward off evil and help the soul reach the spirit world”.

This mask is also used in initiation ceremonies and rituals that help to maintain social order in the community: functional multivalence of a single object is
common in Africa. Some of these functions can be symbolized by the selection of certain animal features. For example, the depictions on this helmet
mask -- of spiked crocodile teeth, the snout of a hyena or crocodile, warthog tusks sticking out of the mouth, and ram or buffalo horns flanking the nose
-- are all animal attributes associated with strength and aggressiveness. They are combined with the hornbill bird, a symbol of fecundity and the
adaptable chameleon, the first figure to walk the earth and possessor of the primordial seed. All of these symbols express the power of the Poro
association in maintaining social order in the community.



Bickford, Kathleen E. "Art of the Western Sudan." Museum Studies, Volume 23, No. 2: African Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago: The Art
Institute of Chicago, 1997.