Ɵ Tellem pair of standing figures, Dogon,... - Lot 9 - Giquello

Lot 9
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60000 - 80000 EUR
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Result : 50 000EUR
Ɵ Tellem pair of standing figures, Dogon,... - Lot 9 - Giquello
Ɵ Tellem pair of standing figures, Dogon, Mali 1335 - 1455 Wood with slightly crusty patina H. 56 and 62 cm Tellem pair of standing figures, Dogon, Mali H. 22 1/8 in and 24 1/2 in Provenance: - Philippe Guimiot, Brussels - Reginald Groux, Galerie Noire d'Ivoire, Paris, ca. 1990 - Craft Caravan, New York, ca. 1979 - Private collection Une sainte famille The carbon 14 dating of the pair shown here from the Bandiagara cliff in Mali indicates that it was probably carved between 1350 and 1450. Although this was a transitional period when the Dogon cohabited with the Telem primo-arrivals, the latter can undoubtedly be credited with these sculptures. The very characteristic patina of the three figures in this group corroborates this scientific analysis; it testifies to their long presence in the shelter of one of the many caves dug into the rock, on the Sanga plateau, where Marcel Griaule and his companions established their headquarters during their numerous missions. The very particular style of these works has few equivalents in the corpus of regional statuary, only the woman's hairstyle and the exaggeratedly swollen lips of the two spouses evoke a horsewoman that belonged to the Wunderman collection and was acquired by the Dapper Foundation. A daba bearer from the Menil Collection in Houston, dated to the same period, is also clearly related to the man in our couple. If the themes illustrated by these statues, taken individually, are traditional in the iconography of the Dogon Country, the way in which they are treated escapes the classicism of the genre. A farmer, with an adze on his shoulder, is a proven representation, although relatively rare, but that of his companion does not correspond to the traditional image of the mother, represented with an infant on her lap or on her side. Here the posture of the woman, with her hand on the head of her child of standing age, is as unexpected and moving as this portrait of an ideal family. Remarkable also are the well-proportioned bodies, the arched loins amplifying the round protuberance of their fall, the spine - marked with an elegant groove in the woman - forming with the accentuated angle of the shoulders a particularly harmonious curve. This testimony from the depths of time, astonishing and universal, bears the mark of an exceptional talent. Bertrand Goy
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