Standing female figure "lü mä"

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Description

wood, brown patina with remains of black paint, kaolin, metal teeth, fine knotted plant fibre bands, elaborate scarification marks, slightly dam., paint rubbed off, rep. (left foot in two places), on wooden plate;
stylistically the figure can be ascribed to the circle around the master carver Zlan. Wooden figures, called “lü mä”, are not thought to represent ritual ancestors or protective spirits, they are rather portraits of living persons, even carrying the name of an individual human. Typically a portrait of a woman esteemed by her husband - a chief or important person - who commissioned the work from a sculptor. The husband would take possession of it with some pomp, then hide it away jealously, showing it only on special occasions. In case an important member of the council of the elders died, such a figure could be posted at the place where he used to take a seat, in order to remind the gathering of his person and of his attitude.
Figures of the Dan are quite rare in any case, because the possession of a figure was connected with a blood sacrifice, in most cases of a cow, and the celebration of a big feast.

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Comparing literature

Rockefeller, Nelson, Newton, Douglas u.a., Meisterwerke der primitiven Kunst, Stuttgart, Zürich 1979, ill. p. 109 Rivière, Marceau, Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre Africains des Collections Privees Francaises, Paris 1975, p. 42

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Publications

Fischer, E. & H. Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zürich, 1976, p. 153, ill. 143; E. Fischer und H. Himmelheber, The Arts of the Dan in West Africa, Museum Rietberg Zürich, 1984, p. 121, ill. 135

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Exhibition

Maskenwesen in Westafrika Nr. 1: Die Kunst der Dan, E. Fischer und H. Himmelheber, 1976

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