A bronze sculpture - Fon - Benin (No reserve price)

Fon Bronze Sculpture - Cotonou Region, Benin This finely crafted bronze sculpture depicts an upright female figure holding a child in her arms and supporting an exceptionally long, diagonally rising staff with her raised right hand. Her slender body rests on a rectangular plinth. Her face, with its protruding lips and carefully sculpted hairstyle, is tilted slightly upwards. Her upper body remains unclothed, while a long, close-fitting skirt encloses her legs. Its surface is adorned with circular and geometric engravings that, in rhythmic repetition, form a dense ornamental pattern. The golden-brown metal surface with greenish oxidation marks underscores the delicacy of the workmanship. Particularly striking is the dynamic interplay between the mother's serene posture and the far-reaching diagonal of the staff. The Fon people live in southern Benin, especially in the historical territory of the Kingdom of Dahomey. Their metalwork encompasses figurative representations, royal insignia, and objects of religious life. Mother-and-child motifs are also found in Fon brass art; they can allude to nurturing, fertility, and the continuity of life. The raised staff lends the present depiction an additional ceremonial dimension. Literature (selection) Suzanne Preston Blier: African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. Chicago 1995. Melville J. Herskovits: Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom. New York 1938. Suzanne Preston Blier: Asen: Mémoires de fer forgé. Paris 2018. Some of the information and photos are generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history documents. All information and photos are protected by copyright. Inv. No. MAZ30414 Informant: Amadou Dogo

Estimate:£127.08

View all items fromCatawikiorEthnographical