IMPORTANT SENUFO FEMALE FIGURE, IVORY COAST Carved and patinated wood deble, or rhythm-pounder, used in ritual dance, with facial scarification and traditional features, early 20th c. (Provenance: Hawaiian painter, John Young) Well-weathered, some restoration to stress fractures, chipped rear finial. Mounted on black-painted wooded base. 39 inches tall x 7 inches wide.Rhythm pounders are ritual objects of a small subgroup of artisans, the Celibele, who make a living as rope makers and tanners. Rhythm pounders are used principally during a burial, where they are usually held by the arms. Men would lay them on the left and right side of the corpse wrapped in cloths, as masked dancers performed around the corpse while it reposed in the village square. As the corpse was carried to the burial ground, the elders would take the tall wooden figures and pound with them on the ground in front of them, as if to clear a pathway for the deceased person. Later in the procession, the two rhythm pounders would be placed on top of the bundle, and, after the burial, returned to the secret grove where they were kept.

Overall Good condition, chip to back of top finial