Yoruba motherhood, Nigeria - Lot 64

Lot n° 64
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Estimation :
3000 - 5000 EUR
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Result : 1 600EUR
Yoruba motherhood, Nigeria - Lot 64
Yoruba motherhood, Nigeria Wood H. 80 cm Provenance : Private collection, New York, USA French private collection Whether from Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Kenya, Benin or Nigeria, motherhood is honored in the arts of Black Africa. Celebrated through a sculptural corpus of styles as rich and fascinating as it is moving through the poses and gestures linking mother and child, while also implicitly indicating through the variations in posture, the degree of intimacy between the two subjects, thus revealing sociologically, the differentiated relationships to maternity across each ethnic group. While the most illustrious examples are the Yombe maternities, the most "common" the Baoulés, and the most touching the Dogons in terms of the deference shown by the mother's kneeling posture to the gaze cast upon the child, those of the Yorouba - who nonetheless devote a cult to twinhood honored through ibedji statuary - are rarer. This work bears witness to this, standing out from the classic iconographic corpus through its typology and morphology. Monumental stature, imposing allure, reinforced by its generous, massive volumes, with soft, rounded lines that subtly reflect the symbolism of the maternal character. Her seated position, conferring presence and importance and indicating the high social status to which she belonged, is reinforced by the high headdress set in a powerful verticality decorated with incised grid patterns. Eloquent expressiveness is intensified by the facial elements sculpted in relief: the finely delineated almond-shaped eye rims accentuate the range of the gaze, while the beauty of the hemmed lips is matched by the small scarified decoration on the jawline, originating at the corners of the mouth. The hands reach forward to support the child in a gesture that resembles a presentation. The child is seated, its belly bulging, its face almost identical to its mother's, topped by a small sagittal headdress. The child's powerful authority, signified by his sitting position, head carriage, hairstyle and expressiveness, is skilfully contrasted with the softness of his massive, rounded curves, accentuating the supple movement of the arms supporting the child. Light shaded patina.
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