Cassandra D'Cruz
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Lot 49
Lobi Head, Burkina Faso
13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New YorkUS$20,000 - US$30,000
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Lobi Head, Burkina Faso
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height 21in (53.5cm)
Provenance
Jean-Paul Delcourt, Abidjan
Swiss Private Collection, acquired in the 1950s
Thence by descent
Timothy Garrard notes, "Large heads depicted on a post stake form a unique category of Lobi sculpture. They are found on both sides of the international boundary which runs through Lobi territory. Many examples are carved with great care and attention to detail. [. . .]
These sculpted heads were fixed to the ground at various shrines, both in the shrine room and open air. They are also found with their spike set into the top of an external wall, where they served as guardians of the house. For this reason, the end of the spike is often eroded. . ." (Phillips, Tom, ED. Africa - The Art of a Continent, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1995, p. 521).
Finely carved, of dense wood and large scale, the long cylindrical neck with heavy erosion supporting the spherical, naturalistic head with bulbous features, including rounded cheeks and protuberant eyes, the top of the head with a sagittal crest dividing a coiffure defined by linear incisions on each side and a squared projected element pointing downward at the back; light brown encrusted patina with lime deposits in the crevices.
height 21in (53.5cm)
Provenance
Jean-Paul Delcourt, Abidjan
Swiss Private Collection, acquired in the 1950s
Thence by descent
Timothy Garrard notes, "Large heads depicted on a post stake form a unique category of Lobi sculpture. They are found on both sides of the international boundary which runs through Lobi territory. Many examples are carved with great care and attention to detail. [. . .]
These sculpted heads were fixed to the ground at various shrines, both in the shrine room and open air. They are also found with their spike set into the top of an external wall, where they served as guardians of the house. For this reason, the end of the spike is often eroded. . ." (Phillips, Tom, ED. Africa - The Art of a Continent, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1995, p. 521).
Finely carved, of dense wood and large scale, the long cylindrical neck with heavy erosion supporting the spherical, naturalistic head with bulbous features, including rounded cheeks and protuberant eyes, the top of the head with a sagittal crest dividing a coiffure defined by linear incisions on each side and a squared projected element pointing downward at the back; light brown encrusted patina with lime deposits in the crevices.
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