Standing figure "mu po" · Cameroon Grassfields, Bamileke · ID: 3042590
Christie’s, London, 16 October 1979, lot 112
Christie’s, London, 24 March 1988, lot 213
Bonhams, London, 21 August 2000, lot 94
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 5 March 2011, lot 294
Description
wood, dark brown patina overall with some glossy areas, slightly dam., cracks, minor missing part (left foot tip), wooden base.
Egerton spent several months in Cameroon as a guest of King N’jike II of Bangangte. In 1938 Egerton published a record of his stay, where he wrote: “People came from the country round about with things they hoped to sell to me, stools, masks, pipes and little figures used by sorcerers, of which I am making a collection”. Finally he acquired sixteen figures. His daughter, Mrs Morris Egerton Adams sold this collection in London at Christie’s in 1979.
The object Standing figure “mu po” with the object ID 3042590 was last part of the auction 87th Tribal Art Auction at November 11, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 334 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,500.
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Comparing literature
F. Clement C. Egerton, "African Majesty, A Record of Refuge in the Court of the King of Bangangte in the French Cameroons", London 1938
Publications
AHDRC: 0010594