Bété-Gouro female figure - Lot 24

Bété-Gouro female figure Ivory Coast Wood with black patina and glass inlays H. 53.5 cm Provenance - Acquired by Jean-Baptiste Filloux between 1911 and 1913 and passed on by descent. - Monbrison Gallery - Sotheby's Auction, Paris, June 12 2012, Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, lot 41 - Ruellan Auction, Vannes, February 26, 2022, lot 150 Large Bété statue, probably representing the mythical mother. Bété statuary is very rare and the corpus of known full-length works is therefore very limited. Their exact meaning and function remain uncertain. According to field research carried out by Denise Paulme and then by Bohumil Holas in the 1960s, the statues were only used in the Gagnoa region, not far from the Gagu and Guro countries. These statues, mostly female, represented a deceased ancestor. Kept in sanctuaries, they were exhumed during funeral ceremonies to pay tribute to the deceased, notably during the Kole ceremony dedicated to the memory of an ancestor. Bété commemorative statues can be recognized by their elongated necks and trunks, backs with a median incision, short legs, rounded volumes and enlarged hands and feet. This work depicts a female figure standing upright. The body is reduced to its essentials: powerful, well-developed musculature. The legs are short and massive. Detailed toes add nuance to the width of the feet. The arms are uncurled along the bust, framing a prominent umbilicus. Scarification marks adorn the neck and chest. Of great plastic power, this statue appears to be an important one in the narrow Bété corpus.