Ife bronze couple, unknown age. After the male sculpture was sold in one of our last auctions we found this female sculpture, which obviously belong to the male sculpture.

The female figure is slender with broad hips and a tiny little bit smaller than the male figure. She shows the same signs of dignity but the sceptre is differently designed. Her crown also looks different, four-staged and tapered. She wears a long sleeveless dress with diagonal ribbons and a sloping hem. The face is also round, but not quite as full as his. She has a more serious expression, more down-to-earth, as the eyes and mouth are a little harder accentuated. The head of each figure measures more than a quarter of the figures´ length, a proportion that is particularly characteristic of West African sculpture.

Impressive condition. On the left breast of the female figure, at the hem of the garment is a small irregularity. Tiny, nearly invisible chip on the crown, where it rests on her forehead.

Whether it is an Ife royal couple (man and woman) or a "mother and son couple", is probably still to be clarified.

sold

Height: 72 cm
Weight: 12,4 kg

An Ife couple, the male was already sold.