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LOT 2388
West African Squatting Stone Figure Pair
KISSI TRIBE, EARLY 20TH CENTURY A.D.
7 7/8 - 9 1/4 in. (2.55 kg total, 20-23.5 cm).
Carved stone statues (twins) from Sierra Leone; two steatite anthropomorphic carvings, one male and one female, both with hands wrapped around the knees. [2, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Sierra Lione, West Africa.
From an old Norwich, UK, collection.
From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Tagliaferri, Aldo, Hammacher, Arno, Die steinernen Ahnen, Graz 1974.
FootnotesThe Kissi as early as the 15th century, revered soapstone (steatite) anthropomorphic carvings, which are found in fields and rivers in the area centered around Sewa and Mano rivers. The Kissi people call them Pomdo (Pombo), which mean "the deceased". Some of their carvings are extremely old. These statues were the abodes of the spirits of their ancestors. In order to find out which ancestor a statue represented; a man’s dreams were analyzed with the help of the diviner. At festivities the statue was wrapped in cotton upon which sacrificial blood had been poured. The owner (the guardian of the statue) placed it on the family altar; hence it was thought to be the family’s protector against sickness. It was also consulted before a new undertaking was planned. The statues were believed to have supernatural power and were used in rice cultivation. Remarkably, the descendants of the Kissi people still keep up the tradition of stone carving.
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African Wooden Fertility Figure
Yoruba Tribe, mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Carved in the round standing male figures with tall hatched headdress extending to the rear, hands placed either side of his distended abdomen, knees flexed, standing on a plano-convex base. 1.1 kg, 48.5 cm
From South West Nigeria, West Africa. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
The Yoruba are the largest nation in Africa with an art-producing tradition. Their figures, more often of Shango (also spelled Sango and Sagoe), deity of thunder and lightning are carved from wood and kept in shrines. -
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Lega Warega Tribe, early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Teardrop-shaped in plan with two scooped facets, slit eyes; pierced around the edge for attachment. 57 grams, 14.7 cm
From Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. From the Estate of Dr J Bynon; acquired 22 February 1914. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Most of Lega masks are sculptures of a human face that are rarely worn over the face and never for purposes of true transformation. The Lega masks can be assigned different uses and meanings depending on the context of the performance. In Bwami ceremonies, masks are attached to different parts of the body, fixed to hat, piled in stacks, hung on fences, held in the hand, dragged on the ground, and occasionally worn on the forehead with the beard draping over the face of the wearer or arranged on a miniature palisade. Participants in most rites display their masks as a group in conjunction with particular dance movements and aphorisms, which vary depending on the context in which they are used. Lega masks differ from those used in many other African masquerades in that while women do not own them, both men and women handle and present them in very similar performances. Masks are among the initiation objects displayed on the grave before being passed to new owners. They are usually passed from an uncle to a nephew. -
African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Bambara tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Carved wooden elongated mask representing an animal head with wide open snout, round ears, small round holes for the eyes and six horns above the brow. 1.47 kg, 49.5 cm
From Mali, West Africa. From a Glasgow ethnographical collection; formed 1940s-1950s. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
The number of horns make reference to specific characteristics of males (three, six, or 9 horns) or females (four or eight horns) and the androgynous (two, five or seven), making this a male mask of six horns.
