Figural group ·  Nigeria, Anago/Yoruba · ID: 3035384

Description

wood, polychrome paint, encrusted with clay, rectangular platform with deepenings for mortising thirteen figures, three ceremonial parasols, three snake-like sculptures, a small quadruped and a kind of tree ladder, the figures show great variety in design: bearded dignitaries in the last row, kneeling female bowl-bearing figures inbetween, figures standing in upright posture holding axes in front of the body, the most important persons placed in the centre, a whitened figure with hat, flanked by a blackened female figure, both seated on stools, two recesses and a figural torso at the front rim, slightly dam., missing parts, cracks, paint rubbed off;
depictions of such numerous figures are quite rare. The ensemble was probably meant as a status symbol of a chief or dignitary and was displayed in the reception chambers.

The object Figural group with the object ID 3035384 was last part of the auction 74th tribal art auction at September 7, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 208 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.

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Comparing literature

Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, p. 68 f.