Headdress (chi wara)
Headdress (chi wara)
Attribution follows a published museum catalogue or peer-reviewed scholarship. Object is held in a public collection under a published accession number.
Chi wara—a mythical “farming beast”—was said to teach farming to the Bamana people. Carved patterns cover this female chi wara’s body, highlighting its muscles and emphasizing that it is no earthly animal, but rather an agricultural spirit that combines human, antelope, and anteater elements. This example wears earrings and a nose ring of imported metals and beads. Its carver—a blacksmith—used a naturalistic style common south of the city of Bamako. Accompanied by women’s songs, male performers danced paired male-and-female chi wara headdresses affixed to basketry caps at agricultural competitions and weddings.
Catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art as “Headdress (chi wara)”, dated early to mid-1900s. Harvested from the museum’s open-access record; every field below is copied from that record and none of it has been inferred.
Record
| People / culture | Bamana |
|---|---|
| Country | Mali |
| Common name | Headdress (chi wara) |
| Form category | Headdress or crest worn atop the head |
| Materials | Wood, cowrie shells, glass beads, possibly aluminum, iron alloy, upholstery studs, and natural fibers |
| Dimensions | Overall: 44.5 x 66 cm (17 1/2 x 26 in.) |
Provenance
(J.J. Klejman Gallery, New York, NY) (1954)
Mrs. Ralph M. Coe [Dorothy deWolf Tracey, 1890-1966] Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1954-1965)
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1965-)
| Collection | Cleveland Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Accession number | 1965.325 |
Source
https://clevelandart.org/art/1965.325
This record is a catalogue entry, not an appraisal, valuation or legal determination. Nothing here should be read as evidence that an object was lawfully acquired or exported.