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Interestingly, Kanfarandé is the same village where Parisian art dealer Hélène Kamer (now Leloup) and her then-husband Henri Kamer acquired eight similar serpent sculptures in early 1957 (fi g. 7), including the example on permanent display in the Louvre (fi g. 2) and those sold by Christie’s (fi g. 3) and Sotheby’s (fi g. 6). In an extensive entry on this serpent in the 2000 Louvre handbook titled Sculptures,9 French art historian and Baga art specialist Marie Yvonne Curtis states that the Nalu region had converted to Islam in the mid 1950s due to the infl uence of proselytes of a Muslim brotherhood and that many ritual objects were either burned and destroyed or sold at that time by local political and religious leaders. This is likely the context in which not only the Kamers were able to acquire their serpent headdresses but also, if Komor was correct, the Nicauds obtained the CMA’s example three years earlier. Curtis also reports that Nalu carvers received commissions from patrons of some of the neighboring groups, 125 Madame Nicaud seems to suggest that the CMA serpent came from the village of Katoko in the region of the Baga Sitemu. However, Komor’s documentation that accompanied the acquisition cites the village of Kanfarandé, which is located in the Boké district among the Nalu people. Given that the records accompanying the Nicaud fi eld photo also reference Boké, it is tempting to give this more weight. The Nalu consider a serpent spirit called Ninguinanga to be the bringer of prosperity, fi delity, and wealth, as well as a guardian against all evil. As a protective spirit, the associated serpent headdress, called mbanchong, watched over the entire village and specifi cally over the young adults undergoing circumcision and initiation. During the initiation, the appearance of mbanchong would always be accompanied by another masker called mtonko, who served as his guide and messenger. Outside the context of initiation, mbanchong would be used by the elders to maintain order, protect against theft, appease confl icts, punish infractions, and guard people against sorcery.8


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