Mosé YEYAP (1895-1941) The toad and the kite,... Lot 4

Mosé YEYAP (1895-1941) The toad and the kite, 1932 Ink, watercolour and pencil on paper 49 x 32 cm Provenance: Former Suzanne Truittard collection Mosé Yeyap, an avant-gardist Mosé Yeyap sometimes written Yéyab or Jeyab is a dignitary of the court of King Bamum Njoya who will become the main opponent of the monarchy in 1915. Along with the cartoonist Ibrahim Njoya, he belongs to the category of "bamum cartoonists". The works are made with Indian ink, coloured pencil and sometimes enhanced with watercolours. They are often enriched with text in "Shü-mom", a script invented by the king himself around 1895. If the context of artistic creation differs widely from one region to another in Africa, Mosé Yeyap is one of the first painters of sub-Saharan Africa in the same way as Djilatendo or Lubaki. Some of his works are kept at the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva. An exhibition "The Bamum Drawings" was organized by the Museum of African, Oceanian and Amerindian Arts in Marseille in 1997. The Musée du Quay Branly presented bamum drawings from its collection as part of the exhibition "Bamoun Royale cartoon" in 2015. Some see in the structure of these drawings the first African comics. Translation: Fembèn, year 32, 2nd month, 12th day, one Thursday The frog and the kite The kite regularly visited the frog, shortly afterwards he asked her when would she also come to visit him? La grenouille answered: "the journey at times comes when you least expect it". The kite asked again how would it be possible for the frog to reach his residence? The frog replied, "The journey at times comes when you least expect it. One day, the frog anointed himself with clay, sprinkled himself with the hen's feathers, and went to settle in a corner of the yard. The kite saw it from above (thinking it was a hen), went down to capture it, put it in its nest and came out. On his return, he saw the frog