Old Senufo Divination Ring – Chameleon – Côte d’Ivoire

Bronze. Height: 3.5 cm (1.38 in). Inner diameter: 2.3 cm (0.91 in). Weight: 19.4 g (0.68 oz).

Due to its physically mutating nature and adaptability, the chameleon is a symbol of wisdom, transformation and mediation between the physical and the spiritual worlds.

This type of ring was not intended for daily wear, but rather to be brought to the diviner by the person seeking consultation. Daily life among the Senufo people revolves around religious rituals aimed at placating and communicating with the deities they both respect and fear, primarily through divination practices and the use of specially crafted bronze jewelry.

The Sandogo (or Sando) is an authoritative women’s social order responsible for maintaining harmonious relationships with the spiritual world through divination and for safeguarding the moral and ritual purity of each kinship group. The Sandobele are diviners within the Sandogo society who diagnose and resolve personal and communal issues.

These rings are produced using the traditional lost‑wax casting process; each piece is therefore original and unique, as the mold is destroyed after each casting.

The Senufo are an ethnolinguistic group composed of several subgroups of Gur‑speaking peoples living in an area extending from southern Mali and the extreme western corner of Burkina Faso to the region of Katiola in Côte d’Ivoire.

For comparable examples, see A World of Rings, by Anne Van Cutsem, pp. 72–73.

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