Chiwara couple

Pair of bronze Chiwaras (Segú region, Mali)

In the Bamana or Bambara culture, the chiwaras are closely associated with agricultural work.
According to tradition, Chi Wara, a Neolithic hero, half spirit, half antelope, came down to earth with the mission of teaching humans to sow and obtain good harvests. For this reason, the Bambara, grateful, celebrate sowing and harvest by wearing agricultural headdresses or decorating their villages with motifs that represent the demigod and his spouse.
Chiwaras have the shape of an antelope and always go in pairs, with the male showing off his genitals and the female accompanied by a newborn baby. The shapes of the chiwara vary from one region to another, the one we now offer at Black Market being the typical one from Segú: with its long horns slightly curved and in a vertical arrangement, these chiwaras take the shapes of the scimitar oryx (Oryx dammah), an antelope once common in the region and currently extinct.
Pair of Chiwaras in lost wax bronze.

Male – Length: 20.5 cm; Height: 54.0 cm; Weight: 1.32 Kg
Female – Length: 20.0 cm; Height: 56.0 cm; Weight: 1.34 Kg