Female Caryatid Drum (Pinge)

SenufoWW-1930-128435

1930·Wood, hide, and pigment·125.8 × 50.8 × 50.8 cm (49 1/2 × 20 × 20 in.)

<p>This drum representing a woman of rank balancing a load on her head celebrates women’s prominence in Senufo society, where they act as family founders and spiritual mediators and guardians. It is embellished with designs that allude to the knowledge and power of diviners. This particular drum may have been played by a woman during commemorative funerals for members of the influential all-female associations known as Sandogo and Tyekpa.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1930
Medium: Wood, hide, and pigment
Dimensions: 125.8 × 50.8 × 50.8 cm (49 1/2 × 20 × 20 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Senufo

Artist

Senufo

The Senufo or Senufic languages comprise around 15 languages spoken by the Senufo in the north of Ivory Coast, the south of Mali and the southwest of Burkina Faso. An isolated language, Nafaanra, is also spoken in the west of Ghana. The Senufo languages constitute their own branch of the Atlantic–Congo sub-family of the Niger–Congo languages. Anne Garber estimates the total number of Senufos at some 1.5 million; the Ethnologue, based on various population estimates, counts 2.7 million.

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