Karaboro Fetish Pair

The Karaboro are a subgroup of the northern Senufo living in western Burkina Faso. They belong to the Gur ethnic cluster. The Karaboro are comprised of two subsets who speak distinct languages: the Syem or western Karaboro, and the Kai or eastern Karaboro. The former are today essentially fully converted to Islam and cultivate rice in a well-watered region of hills and lakes around and mostly west of the city Banfora, while the latter grow dry rice, millet and maize to the east. As the eastern Karaboro still mostly adhere to traditional beliefs, it seems most likely that this work comes from the eastern Karaboro. Not much appears to have been written about the Karaboro generally.

This pair comes from the collection of the late Thomas G. B. Wheelock. A similar, although much less richly encrusted pair, is listed in the AHDRC archive as ‘Bobo,’ with a note from Dr. Klaus-Jochen Krüger stating that the AHDRC couple is a Karoboro (sic) diviner’s pair. I trust Dr. Krüger’s knowledge here, as he has much experience with the art of Burkina Faso, but would add that while this pair may have been used by a diviner, their use would surely have been restricted to a shrine or ritual space where sacrificial libations would be allowed to fully dry on them. The crust on the pair is quite thick and impressive, evidencing many years of devotional utility.

11″ H