A female Bété sculpture, from the region Gagnoa, village Ouergayou, Ivory Coast, standing upright in slightly tilted position, on large feet leading to very powerful legs and prominent buttocks, a columnar torso with a pointed navel and hanging, tapering breasts, strong shoulders terminating in powerful arms slightly bent and showing the palms of the hands, accentuated shoulder blades, an extremely elongated thick neck supporting a spherical head, a protruding mouth with two rows of teeth beneath a slender nose leading to high arched brows, framed by large coffee-bean shaped eyes, oval ears with a significant tragus, the abdomen and neck covered with rhomboic patterns, further varied geometric motifs on the legs, the head capped by a striated three parted backswept coiffure; brown, partly shiny patina with remnants of white pigments, traces of age, ritual use, insect damages on the legs, feet, buttocks and the backside of the head. Provenance Mohamed Belo Garba.

Lit.: Burkhard Gottschalk: Kunst aus Schwarz-Afrika. Zeugnisse der Meisterschaft afrikanischer Schnitzer aus privaten Sammlungen. Band 2, Düsseldorf 2007.

800 - 1.000,- Euro

Height: 82 cm
Weight: 6 kg (incl. stand)