Standing female figure "jo nyeleni" · Mali, Bamana · ID: 3032250
Hans Hess, Basel, Switzerland
P. Berger, Binningen, Switzerland
Eduard Hess, Oberwil, Switzerland
Description
light brown wood, greyish brown patina, a stylized body with accentuated breasts, scarification marks on body and face, metal eyes and teeth, dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, base;
such figures represent the “beautiful young women of Jo”. The new initiates travelled around for several months, visiting the villages nearby to point out their new state of adulthood, and demonstrate their wish to marry. “Nyeleni” figures illustrate the characteristic features of young Bamana women of marriageable age.
The object Standing female figure “jo nyeleni” with the object ID 3032250 was last part of the auction 75th tribal art auction at November 30, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 114 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,000.
You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.