A female Bété sculpture

A female Bété sculpture, Ivory Coast, standing upright in slightly forward tilted position, on large feet leading to very powerful legs and prominent buttocks, accentuated genitals, a columnar torso with a pointed navel and sagging breasts, strong shoulders terminating in powerful arms slightly bent and showing the palms of the hands, accentuated shoulder blades, notched back line, an elongated thick neck supporting a spherical head, a protruding mouth showing two rows of teeth beneath a triangular nose, the arched brows extending beyond a semicircle rings and forming circles under eyes, large coffee-bean shaped eyes, a domed forehead, almost spherical ears with a significant tragus, the figure covered with rhomboid and leaf-shaped scarification marks, the head capped by a striated four parted backswept coiffure; dark brown to blackened patina with remnants of white pigments, traces of age, ritual use, several cracks, damages on the legs, on the buttocks, on the right arm and on the backside of the head, incl. stand.

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

Height: 72 cm
Weight: 5.2 kg (incl. stand)