Standing female figure
Sierra Leone, Mende
Price
EUR 6,000
plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance
Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 5 May 1997, lot 278Richard & Jan (1928-2017) Baum, Los Angeles, USA
Mark Eglinton, New York, USA
Size
H: 65 cm
H: 25.6 inch
Description
wood, encrusted patina, handwritten collection no. “1264”, base
Female figures had a number of different functions in Mende culture; some were employed in divination rites to help cure both physical and mental disorders, while others were associated with initiation societies.
In general, such sculptures stood beside and protected the medicines in a society house, where they remained unseen by the public except when they were brought out on special occasions (Yale University Art Gallery).
Comparing literature
https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/84376 Gottschalk, Burkhard, Bundu Masken und Statuen aus privaten Sammlungen, Düsseldorf 2011, p. 156 ff.Publications
AHDRC: 0112763