A playful sculpture of the "Master of the Parasols"

A playful sculpture of the "Master of the Parasols", Ivory Coast, sitting on a stool, standing up straight, holding a parasol in her left hand, right hand rests on the right knee, protruding navel and breasts, large head with relaxed features a half-opened mouth, eyes opened looking in front of her, a delicate hairdo or two ponytails, metallic plats are incised on the legs, thighs, arms and abdomen; encrusted sacrificial patina, cracks at areas, signs of use.

“The master of the parasols also seems to have conceived his sculptures for new purposes. Were they the focus of an exhibition of the gold that marked the owner's rise to the rank of wealthy person? Were they taken along in processions of the age group associations? Or should they simply be decorating residential or business premises? Was this master from the Aladian or Adjukru settlement areas of the lagoon region, as some reared seem to suggest? Or from another area of the southeastern Ivory Coast, The question may never be answered but we can admire the relaxed poses of the figures as well as their elegantly displayed parasols.” P. 75


Lit: African masters, Art of the Ivory Coast, Eberhard Fischer Lorenz Hamburger, Museum Rietberg Zurich 2014.

Height: 54 cm
Width: 28 cm
Weight: 3,12 Kg