Standing female figure ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Wé - Wobé · ID: 3043656

Description

wood, dark brown patina, prominent facial tattooing in a curved line linking the nostrils to the temples, banded tattoos with herringbone patterns radially emerging from the prominent navel, slightly dam., cracks, missing parts (feet), base.
A comparable figure formerly was part of the Josef Mueller collection (Fischer/Himmelheber 1976, p. 155, ill. 149). They both share the shape of the body (elongated trunk, short arms, small breasts), prominent navel, vertical forehead ridge and banded tattoos. The prominent facial tattooing, according to Verger-Fèvre, can stil be seen on the faces of some old Wé (Guéré) women. A third similar statue in the Ethnographical Collection of the Rijksuniversiteit Ghent (Inv. IV.405.A-B), according to Fischer/Himmelheber was declared “Wobe, from the region of Duékoué”. A figure by the same sculptor can be found in the New Oreans Museum of Art (Fagalay, 2011, ill. 52).

Comparing literature

Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zürich 1976, p. 155, ill. 149 (AHDRC 0063302) Barbier, Jean Paul (ed.), Art of Côte d' Ivoire, Vol II, Genève 1993, p. 83, ill. 136 Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 110, ill. 52

Publications

AHDRC: 0150476