Standing female figure "lü mä" · Côte d'Ivoire, Dan · ID: 3053542
Maria Wyss, Basel, Switzerland
Hans Wolf, Zurich, Switzerland
René David, Zurich, Switzerland
Harald & Ursula Suhr, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada / Germany (1980)
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, Germany, 8 September 2012, lot 110
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Description
wood, pigments, metal, plant fibres, base
Stylistically the figure can be ascribed to the circle around the master carver Zlan.
The figures known as “lü mä” (“wooden person”) are understood as portrait-like commemorative sculptures referring to specific individuals. Known examples include representations of a chief’s favourite wife: when she spent extended periods on the plantation while he had to remain in the village, he could keep her likeness with him. Following the death of a prominent member of the council of elders, such a figure could be placed in his customary seat to remind those assembled of him and his views.
Figures are rare among the Dan, and their ownership was a mark of status. Their public display required the owner to afford the sacrifice of a cow and the staging of a large feast.
Comparing literature
Rockefeller, Nelson et al., Meisterwerke der primitiven Kunst, Stuttgart, Zürich 1979, p. 109 Rivière, Marceau, Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre Africains des Collections Privées Francaises, Paris 1975, p. 42
Publications
Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zürich 1976, p. 153, ill. 143; Fischer, Eberhard & Hans Himmelheber, The Arts of the Dan in West Africa, Zurich 1984, p. 121, ill. 135
AHDRC: 0063180
Exhibition
Zurich, Switzerland, Die Kunst der Dan, Museum Rietberg, 17 October - 21 November 1976