Female statue with pestle and mortar 

Title: Female Statue with Pestle and Mortar
Material: Carved wood, with brown patina
Geographical Area: Senufo, Ivory Coast – Mali – Burkina Faso
Date: 20th century
Dimensions: h. 147 x 29 x 31 cm
Iconography and Symbolic Meaning: The motif of the woman pounding wheat/millet with a mortar and pestle is closely linked to fertility and the continuity of the community. In the Senufo world, women are the ones who transform the harvest into nourishment, a symbol of abundance and life. The elaborate hairstyle and ornaments indicate a figure of rank, perhaps linked to ritual or ceremonial contexts. This type of figure can also be interpreted in relation to the ceremonies of the Poro, the initiatory society that regulates the spiritual and political life of the Senufo, where female images are tasked with embodying the ideal of beauty, fertility, and vital force.