Female bowl bearer
Sierra Leone, Mende/Temne
Vendu
8 500 €
Provenance
brought from Sierra Leone by the late Sir Rory Baynes who was with the Royal West Africa Frontier Force in Sierra Leone from 1912 until 1914;Christie’s, London, May 13, 1980, lot 179
Richard Rüegg, Zurich, Switzerland
Taille
H: 52,5 cm
H: 20.7 inch
Description
wood, glossy middle brown patina, black paint, encrusted in some areas, bead loincloth, rising from strong legs, in typical posture the arms carved free of the body with the hands on the hips, the compressed face on ringed neck carved with a medicine-horn necklet, the bowl on her head possibly carved as mortar, slightly dam. (above all the rim of the bowl), the back repaired with long split, on round wooden plate;
medicine figures of this kind belong to the “yassi” society. They are used as protectors and healing agents. They are kept in a special area of the shrine with the medicine and, when needed to perform a cure, are placed in a bowl with a herb and clay mixture.