A small female Mumuye sculpture, standing on her zigzag shaped legs, cylindric abdomen, protruding navel, wide shoulders margining into zigzaging arms, the neck carries a large head with expressive features in which the two eyes are painted white and black, two large elements, usually the ears in Mumuye style, fall downwards, hair is pulled up; ritual patina, wigns of use.

“It was not until the late 1960s that statues from the Mumuye culture of northeastern Nigeria appeared on the European art scene. Their impact was immediate and profound: African art aficionados marvelled at Mumuye artists’ abstract interpretation of the human body, which recalled the approach to anatomy by artists of the Cubist and Expressionist movements. Indeed, anthropomorphic Mumuye figure sculptures demonstrate an astonishing range of variations, testifying to their makers’ unbridled creativity and limitless inventiveness.
Here, a meticulous analysis of the extraordinary forms of Mumuye figures—paying attention to their striking inherent sense of motion—leads to a new style of classification that recognizes different workshops and even the hands of individual masters. A summary of the scant fieldbased studies discusses the figures’ primary role as emblems of status and rank, their connections to ancestral veneration, and healing and divination practices. Through a selection of masks and other objects, this book reveals the beauty of Mumuye figurative sculpture.”

Source: Mumuye. Sculpture from Nigeria, The Human Figure Reinvented, by Frank Herremam, Texts by Constantine Petridis, 2016.

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Height: 22,5 cm
Weight: 210 g