Bambara Kono Society Headdress, Based

Two horns, two holes, and a surface that keeps its secrets.

This Kono society headdress is Bambara, from Mali in West Africa, in wood, early 20th century and given as over 100 years old, shown on a base. The Kono is one of the Bamana power associations, whose masks were treated with great seriousness and kept from casual view. A horned form narrows to a long lower panel, punctured by two eye holes and crossed by a bound knot at the center. The surface is pale and crusted. Forty-five inches high.

It was not made to be liked.