Ɵ Makonde Standing Female Figure, Mozambique 19th... Lot 18

Ɵ Makonde Standing Female Figure, Mozambique 19th century Wood H. 53 cm Makonde Standing Female Figure, Mozambique H. 20 3/4 in Provenance: - Dr. and Mrs. Robert Kuhn, Los Angeles - Sotheby's New York, November 20, 1991, lot 122 - Hélène and Philippe Leloup, Paris - Private collection Publication: - Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, The Tribal Arts of Africa. London, Thames & Hudson, French edition: L'Art Tribal d'Afrique Noire, Paris, Editions Assouline, 1998, p. 200, no. 6. - Arts d'Afrique Noire No. 25, 1978, Publicity: Jean-Louis Forain & Daniel Hourdé Traditional Makonde art, before the revival of the 1960s, was essentially a matter of masks, most often devoted to initiations and sometimes to ceremonies in honor of the ancestors. Makonde sculptors also made female statuettes. Indeed, according to an ancient Makonde legend, when the first man was created and managed to emerge from the deep forest, he carved a wooden female figurine which, on coming to life, became the first woman. The statuette in the Khun Collection is one of the finest known examples of this rare production. Her torso and face are richly scarified. Her upper lip shows a classic deformation due to the wearing of a labret.