Standing female figure "d'mba" ·  Guinea, Baga · ID: 3042467

Description

wood, rich blackish brown patina, head with projecting chin and crested coiffure, both hands up to the chin, incised geometrical patterns, slightly dam., missing parts (tip of the chin, disc-shaped base backside along rim);
“d’mba” figures can be either male or female, quite often they appear in pairs. They were kept in shrines outside the villages and were associated with plant and human fertility. The sculptures serve as intermediaries between the people and the ancestor spirits. Offerings were left
for the spirits at the shrines, and the figures were greatly respected in the hope that they might bring good fortune and benefits from the
spirits.

The object Standing female figure “d’mba” with the object ID 3042467 was last part of the auction 86th Tribal Art Auction at May 27, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 175.

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Publications

Galerie Flak (ed.), The American Dream, Paris 2015, p. 40 f.

AHDRC: 0055829

Exhibition

Galerie Flak, The American Dream, Parcours des Mondes, Paris, 8 - 13 September 2015,