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Lot 72
Senufo Ancestral Male Figure, Côte D'Ivoire
13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$87,500 inc. premium
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Senufo Ancestral Male Figure, Côte D'Ivoire
height 25 1/4in (64.1cm)
Provenance
Alan Mann, London
Dr. Werner Muensterberger, London
Morris Pinto, Geneva
Sotheby's, London, May 9, 1977, Lot 116
British Rail Pension Fund
Sotheby's, London, July 3, 1989, Lot 71
Private American Collection
Robert Goldwater notes, "The most numerous, and to the outside world the most familiar, of Senufo wooden sculptures is a female figure, standing, or less frequently sitting, and usually between six inches and two feet high. Both functionally and stylistically these works are part of a more heterogeneous group that includes representations of mother and child, standing male and equestrian figures, and more rarely seated or standing couples. Such sculptures are made in all parts of Senufo country; the role they play in the religious pantheon is everywhere the same and the formal variations they exhibit have more to do with region than with their meaning, type or pose.
The standing figures are ancestral representations; but since mythical, i.e., tribal, ancestors of the distant past, and the more recent real ancestors are shown exactly the same way, once they are out of their ceremonial context there is no way of telling them apart. Maesen points out that the mythical ancestors are generally male, while the real ancestors, who are directly associated with fertility, are usually conceived in pairs; but individual figures are also made, and the fact that most of these are female may account for their preponderance in collections outside Africa." (Senufo Sculpture of West Africa, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1964, p. 99)
Of hard wood with the elongated back acting as a strong axis to the curvilinear elements of the long, downward sloping face, the coiffure with a single crested ridge and the rounded legs slightly bent at the knees; a pouch is slung around the neck and rests on its back with a stick bound with fiber cordage around the neck; a rich encrusted black patina with ancient loss of each arm.
Provenance
Alan Mann, London
Dr. Werner Muensterberger, London
Morris Pinto, Geneva
Sotheby's, London, May 9, 1977, Lot 116
British Rail Pension Fund
Sotheby's, London, July 3, 1989, Lot 71
Private American Collection
Robert Goldwater notes, "The most numerous, and to the outside world the most familiar, of Senufo wooden sculptures is a female figure, standing, or less frequently sitting, and usually between six inches and two feet high. Both functionally and stylistically these works are part of a more heterogeneous group that includes representations of mother and child, standing male and equestrian figures, and more rarely seated or standing couples. Such sculptures are made in all parts of Senufo country; the role they play in the religious pantheon is everywhere the same and the formal variations they exhibit have more to do with region than with their meaning, type or pose.
The standing figures are ancestral representations; but since mythical, i.e., tribal, ancestors of the distant past, and the more recent real ancestors are shown exactly the same way, once they are out of their ceremonial context there is no way of telling them apart. Maesen points out that the mythical ancestors are generally male, while the real ancestors, who are directly associated with fertility, are usually conceived in pairs; but individual figures are also made, and the fact that most of these are female may account for their preponderance in collections outside Africa." (Senufo Sculpture of West Africa, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1964, p. 99)
Of hard wood with the elongated back acting as a strong axis to the curvilinear elements of the long, downward sloping face, the coiffure with a single crested ridge and the rounded legs slightly bent at the knees; a pouch is slung around the neck and rests on its back with a stick bound with fiber cordage around the neck; a rich encrusted black patina with ancient loss of each arm.
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