A male Lobi sculpture

A male Lobi sculpture, of the Bonko region, probably from the workshop around Youl Bolare, standing on fragmentary wedge-shaped feet leading to slightly bent legs, slightly tapering torso, rounded shoulders terminating in arms slightly bent forward with wedge-shaped hands, the thick neck supporting an oval head with an almond-shaped mouth beneath a slender nose framed by crescent-shaped eyes, bordered all around, c-shaped ears set low on the head; hard, light wood, varied brownish patina with remnants of kaolin, several cracks and holes.

This sculpture was collected with three other Lobi-figures in the Bonko region, which are pictured on the following websites and the sites before. The last owner said, that these four sculptures are coming from the same shrine. The similarity of the patina could be an indication of this statement. This and the following sculpture is showing a high degree of commonalities with the first figure, even the mouth and ears are completely different. I suppose these are different carvers but they have influenced each other in an intensive way.

Lit: Wolfgang Jaenicke: Die Schwierigkeit der Zuordnung bei einigen Bonko Skulpturen; Floros & Sigrid Katsouros/Stephan und Petra Herkenhoff: Anonyme Schnitzer der Lobi, Hannover 2006; Piet Meyer: Kunst und Religion der Lobi, Zürich 1981; Galerie Flak: Magie Lobi, Paris 2003; Kat. Ausst.: Lobi. Westafrikanische Skulpturen aus der Sammlung Greschik, anlässlich der Ausstellung „Die Entdeckung des Individuums“, Lutherstadt Wittenberg 2016, Berlin 2016.

600 - 700,- Euro

Height: 73 cm
Weight: 3.5 kg