Old Senufo Divination Bracelet – SANDO – Côte d’Ivoire / Ivory Coast

Mid 20th. Bronze gr. 186,8 (5.69 oz.); diameter cm. 8,0 high (3.15″); inner diameter cm. 5,9 (2.32″).

Among the Senufo of Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, copper alloy figures and bracelets are associated with the Sando (or Sandogo) divination society and are linked to the powers of bush spirits. The bracelets, called Fò, or python, are said to be the insignia of Sando diviners, for the python serves as a messenger between the spirits and the diviner. The python bracelets are rarely worn; rather they are displayed during divination sessions. They may also be owned by important men who, along with Sando diviners, share responsibility for lineage health and well being.

The Senufo are an ethnolinguistic group composed of diverse subgroups of Gur-speaking people living in an area spanning from southern Mali and the extreme western corner of Burkina Faso to Katiola in Côte d’Ivoire. Daily life for the Senufo people revolves around the religious rituals that enable them to placate the deities they respect and fear through means of divination practices and the wearing of specially crafted bronze jewelry.

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