Bozo Sogo Bo Masquerade Sculpture of Tortoise

A yellow tortoise on four sturdy legs, its shell painted like a game board.

This Sogo Bo masquerade sculpture of a tortoise is Bozo, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is painted wood. Sogo bo, meaning roughly 'the animals come out,' is a puppet masquerade of the Niger River region, in which carved animals appear in performances that often comment on village life. The broad, flat shell is painted with a grid of squares in white and red outlined in black, with a sawtooth border along the rim. A small head with a round red eye peers forward. It is 13.5 inches wide, 7.5 deep and 7 high.

Slow, steady and very well dressed for the occasion.