拍品 76
76
A RARE FON RITUAL VESSEL, the stem carved as a leopard with an animal in its mouth, surmounted by a standing figure and flanked by two kneeling female figures on double-headed snakes, the heads of each carved about the rim of the circular bowl, small circular base, glossy patina

細節
A RARE FON RITUAL VESSEL, the stem carved as a leopard with an animal in its mouth, surmounted by a standing figure and flanked by two kneeling female figures on double-headed snakes, the heads of each carved about the rim of the circular bowl, small circular base, glossy patina
36cm. high

拍品專文

A very similar bowl (with a cover) was collected by Leon Underwood in 1945-46 and is now in the collection of Katherine White Reswick (see Fagg, 1968, no.107). In the catalogue entry Fagg cites the bowl as: ...a fine example of the style of Baname, the carvers' village not far from Abomey, the capital of the Fon Kingdom.
The style is "evolved", and most of their products go to Europeans, but many of their works at that time had a real sculptural quality.