height 10 1/4in (26cm)
the U-shaped body pierced at the legs and with broad sloping shoulders supporting an elongated neck with a pronounced Adam's apple and raised three-part tattoo on the back, the head with classic scooped facial plane with a tranquil expression with rounded forehead and slightly protruding diminutive mouth, the triangular nose boarded by slit coffee-bean eyes below slightly arched brows, delicately carved demilune ears below a hairline demarcated by four scalloped incisions leading to an elegant falling coiffure, pierced through at the top and highlighted by rows of incisions then connected to the back of the neck, all surmounted by a square knot; very fine varied dark brown and black patina. Inagaki Base.

Published:
Arts d'Afrique Noire, no. 31, Automne 1979, p. 5

Provenance:
Charles Ratton, Paris
Morris Pinto, New York
Hubert Goldet, Paris
Private Collection, California