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Property from the Collection of Allan Stone, New York
Lot 62
Bamana Kono Society Bovine Figure, Mali
2 July 2020, 10:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$11,325 inc. premium
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Bamana Kono Society Bovine Figure, Mali
boli
height 17in (43.5cm), length 23in (58.5cm)
Provenance
Possibly James Willis Gallery, San Francisco
Allan Stone Collection, New York, acquired in 1991
Exhibited
Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Hidden Power in African Art, 21 May 2014 - 17 January 2015
Robert Goldwater comments, 'Opinions will differ as to whether the boli are "works of art." If conventional concepts of artisanal skill are the criteria of judgment, they would hardly seem to qualify, although it must be recognized these objects have a very definite "style," in the sense that the employment of traditional techniques produces controlled and expected results, familiar to the Bambara and identifiable by a stranger as a Bambara artifact. Thus there is here at least a craft. But in a deeper sense too they are works of art, since they issue from an imagination that does more than imitate appearance and so functions for the observer as an imaginative focus, mysterious yet real. A little reflection will admit that it is not entirely the materials of their manufacture that make them "awful" objects and that their effect--which combines fascination and repugnance--is related to their having once been objects of awe." (Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan, The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1960, p. 10)
Composed of wood, clay and organic materials, this boli is more animated than most, appearing to stride forward with the right foot ahead of the left and the back legs spread.
height 17in (43.5cm), length 23in (58.5cm)
Provenance
Possibly James Willis Gallery, San Francisco
Allan Stone Collection, New York, acquired in 1991
Exhibited
Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Hidden Power in African Art, 21 May 2014 - 17 January 2015
Robert Goldwater comments, 'Opinions will differ as to whether the boli are "works of art." If conventional concepts of artisanal skill are the criteria of judgment, they would hardly seem to qualify, although it must be recognized these objects have a very definite "style," in the sense that the employment of traditional techniques produces controlled and expected results, familiar to the Bambara and identifiable by a stranger as a Bambara artifact. Thus there is here at least a craft. But in a deeper sense too they are works of art, since they issue from an imagination that does more than imitate appearance and so functions for the observer as an imaginative focus, mysterious yet real. A little reflection will admit that it is not entirely the materials of their manufacture that make them "awful" objects and that their effect--which combines fascination and repugnance--is related to their having once been objects of awe." (Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan, The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1960, p. 10)
Composed of wood, clay and organic materials, this boli is more animated than most, appearing to stride forward with the right foot ahead of the left and the back legs spread.
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