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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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Brass Kano Pendant
Lobi Tribe, mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
Deltoid in plan and with slight midrib, shank with knop finial for attachment. 21 grams, 98 mm
From Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. From an old Derby, UK, specialist collection. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
Lobi arts also include a wide variety of small human and animal images, implements, and more abstract symbols in copper alloy and iron. Some of these are worn as jewelry and some appear on shrines. -
African Wooden Ceremonial 'Forest Spirit' Face Mask
Kwele Tribe, early-mid 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Carved wooden 'Four Faces Forest Spirit Mask' from Gabon, displaying flat surfaces with whitened heart-shaped faces each with a triangular nose, coffee-bean eyes and small or non-existent mouth; the two large carved horns represent the antelope. 1.2 kg, 50 cm
From Gabon, West Africa. From the property of a late Lincolnshire, UK, gentleman.
The faces are usually painted in white kaolin earth, a pigment associated by the Kwele with light and clarity, the two essential factors in the fight against evil. The Kwele occupy a great forest region on the borders of Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. -
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African Wooden Ceremonial Face Mask
Lega Warega Tribe, early 20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £208
Lentoid in plan with vertical lug for the bose and slits for the eyes; applied hair strip to lower face. 158 grams, 22.5 cm
From Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. From the Estate of Dr J Bynon; acquired 30 July 1911. 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.
