  Quick! What word comes to mind when you see a warthog? Ugly?--maybe not in Africa.
Warthogs are wild animals. They can destroy farm crops and have a distinctive habit of running away in single file with their tails held straight up. Artists and hunters focus on the warthog's tusks--while not as big as the wealth of an elephant's tusks or a hippo's teeth, they convey some of the danger of a leopard's claws and fangs.The Senufo peoples include warthog tusks as part of the animal mix of carved teeth and horns that make up their helmet masks (73-7-131). Worn to protect the village from harmful spiritual forces, these masks are often called firespitters because the masked dancers appear to blow sparks. The tusks on the Senufo helmet mask are also meant to represent bird heads. Helmet mask Senufo peoples, Côte d'Ivoire Mid-20th century Wood, pigment Bequest of Eliot Elisofon, 73-7-131 |
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