Champion Cultivator Staff ‘Tefalipitya’

Senufo, Cote d’Ivoire

Circa 1920’s

149cm Tall

Provenance:

A Private British Collection

Charles Degeyter, Ghent

In all societies, harvest of crops is essential and often celebrated. In Senufo society, this celebration takes the form of Tefalipitya staffs. These were awarded to the man who cultivates the most crop, said to represent the wife he will win over by being such a successful farmer. Once given to the champion cultivator, the staff would be stuck into the ground and venerated with offerings of palm oil. After the owner died it was placed outside of his house to guard and guide his spirit. This example represents the idealized Senufo woman in her prime, seated atop a stool and balancing a pot on her head that likely acted as a libation receptacle. The body has very naturalistic proportions, flowing lines, and a beautiful surface that leaks oil, resulting from decades of ritual use.