Maternité "esi mansa" ·  Ghana, Akan / Fante · ID: 3045617

Description

wood, colour pigments, sculpture of the baby now missing, rep., base

This figure was most probably part of a grouping of figures on a support for one of the “ntan” or “ompe” drums that form the popular drum ensembles among the Fante.

Two figures by the same artist are shown in Cole & Ross (1977), p. 179, fig. 357. The distinctive physiognomy, hairstyles, proportioning and formation of the bodies show the greatest similarities. The original use of the figure as ornament of a drum stand can be seen here as well. Two other examples of this carver’s work are shown in van der Pas (2001), p. 90, no. 66.

Littérature comparée

Cole, Herbert M. & Doran H. Ross, The Arts of Ghana, Los Angeles 1977, p. 179 van der Pas, Kathy et. al. (ed), Aspects, Akan cultures in Ghana, The Hague 2001, p. 90