Standing colon figure ·  Kenya, Kamba · ID: 3035038

Description

wood, brown patina, black paint, wearing uniform and fez-like headgear, eyes with metal inlay, rep. (foot tips), small missing part (left foot), paint rubbed off;
the Kamba traditionally applied their carving skills to articles of daily use, such as stools, spoons, snuff bottles, handles for knives and axes, as well as prestigious ceremonial sticks. The first figurative carvings can be traced back to one man - Mutisya Munge - a Kamba tribesman, who joined the army in 1914 and at the same time began to produce carvings of Askaris and African people in traditional clothing for the purpose of selling them to Europeans.

Comparing literature

Stevenson, Michael, Graham-Stewart, Michael, The Mlungu in Africa, 2003, p. 72