*Horseman, Senufo, Ivory Coast Wood H. 39... - Lot 106 - De Baecque et Associés

Lot 106
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Estimation :
10000 - 20000 EUR
*Horseman, Senufo, Ivory Coast Wood H. 39... - Lot 106 - De Baecque et Associés
*Horseman, Senufo, Ivory Coast Wood H. 39 cm Provenance: Dr. Robert Plant Armstrong Collection (1919-1984), Dallas Brian and Diane Leyden Collection, New York David Jessner Collection, New York Private collection, Switzerland Bibliography: Armstrong, "My Collection," in African Arts, Vol.VII, No. 3, Spring 1974, p. 40, No. 6. In 1907, after having visited the ethnographic Museum of Trocadero, Picasso evokes the art of Africa like a revelation: "it is a form of magic which interposes itself between the universe and us; a way of seizing the power, by imposing a form to our terrors as to our desires". (Rolin, 1997: 117). The echo of the sculptural forms of the African statuary began to resound through the musicality of the works that appeared in Europe. The diffusion of African art by art dealers: Joseph Brummer, Paul Guillaume and Charles Ratton, and the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the Senufo style organized in 1963 by Robert Goldwater, will have a fundamental influence in promoting the refinement and abstraction of the Senufo style. The founding myth, at the heart of the socio-cultural organization of Senufo society, gives rise to symbolic representations fashioned by the kulubele. The divine entity Koutolyolo created genies, called Ndèbélé: invisible and ambivalent, "they are the spirits of the bush with which society must deal, through the intermediary of the diviner Sandobele" (Knops, Les anciens Sénoufo, 1935). As a mediator between the spiritual world and society, this genie-rider integrates a restricted corpus thanks to his prestigious role as intermediary with the world of the ancestor spirits of the Mandebele bush (Glaze, 1981: 68-69). His seated posture distinguishes him from the Senufo statuary, which is mostly standing. This stylistic characteristic elevates its mystical significance. The horse, which in this fine example has almost entirely disappeared and of which only the flank remains, embodies the allegorical animal associated with the idea of political chieftaincy, asserting its power and presence. The upright posture of the rider, inscribed in a wood with a light patina and brown nuances, intensifies his elongation of such a particular elegance, so vigorous. The arms of the latter having disappeared, the feet of his mount as well, contrasts with the power of his bust, with the heaviness of his long face with its stretched chin, accentuating the balance, and the lightness that emanates from it, the rider seems to be in levitation. His pose, both straight and slender, gives him pride and dignity. His accessories of adornment; a sagittal crested headdress on the slightly serrated upper edge, and the diamond-shaped scarifications engraved on his torso, attribute apotropaic virtues to the wearer (Holas, 1978: 107), they are markers of strength and ostentatious signs of notoriety. The deeply stretched angular shape of his face, projected forward and raised by a series of striated scarifications on the cheeks, animates the figure with vitality. The style of this horseman of an exceptional original purity, almost universal, is equal to the value of its symbolism. This is a temporary import lot and is subject to a 5.5% fee payable by the buyer in addition to the selling expenses and the hammer price.
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