NAK 0613-3

Senufo Divination Bird Ring, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast

H: 4,5 cm (1,8″), L: 5 cm (2″), Weight: 55 g

Bronze

This type of ring is not intended to be worn daily but rather is brought to the diviner by the person consulting him. Daily life for the Senufo people revolves around the religious rituals that enable them to placate the deities they respect and fear through means of divination practices and the wearing of specially crafted bronze jewelry.

The Sandogo is an authoritative women’s social order responsible for sustaining positive relationships with the spiritual world through divination and for protecting the purity of each kinship group. The Sandobele are diviners within the Sandogo society who diagnose and resolve issues within the community.

The Senufo are an ethnolinguistic group composed of diverse subgroups of Gur-speaking people living in an area spanning from southern Mali and the extreme western corner of Burkina Faso to Katiola in Ivory Coast. These rings are created using the old tradition of the cire perdue ( “lost wax”) process, each piece is original and unique as the mold is destroyed after each casting.

Age: Mid 20th Century

Literature: “A World of Rings”, by Anne Van Cutsem, pages 72 and 73

Click here for more information about the Senufo people

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