Horse Head (Koredugaso)

The long, pointed ears, bulging eyes, pronounced snout, and delicate and muted incised decorative elements along its face define this Bamana koredugaso (wooden horse head). This head would have been attached to a long pole at its neck and used as a puppet in Kore society performances. Ntomo and Kore societies exist throughout the Niger Valley; Ntomo was a society for young boys to learn discipline before being initiated into the more secretive Kore society as adolescents. Bamana people understand Kore as the “father of the rain and thunder,” and therefore as related to agriculture—one of the key elements of knowledge to which boys are exposed to in their initiation into Kore. This head may have been used in performances for initiation ceremonies, which take place every seven years, the more frequent dances enacted to bring about rain for farming, or perhaps both.