Female dance figure
Tanzania, Sukuma
sold
EUR 2,800
Provenance
Peter Loebarth, Hameln, GermanyHermann Sommerhage, Duisburg, Germany
Walter Hekster, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Size
H: 128,5 cm
H: 50.6 inch
Description
wood, reddish brown patina, blackish paint, head and right arm carved separately, fixed by nails, originally separate worked breasts attached (traces of nails and a lighter patina in correspondent place), dam., missing parts (both foot-tips, left arm), missing parts which could be of natural origin (knag) or insect caused damage, strong abrasion, crack, on plate;
used at initiation rites, which surely were associated with fertility, whereupon the accentuation of the female genitals and the bulging belly refer to.