Lot Essay
Cette importante maternité Baulé est certainement l’œuvre du même artiste qui a sculpté l’exemplaire illustré dans Vogel, S., Baule. African Art, Western Eyes, Londres, 1997, p. 96. La statue présentée ici se distingue par sa patine riche et suintante, et par la position de l’enfant, ici couché dans les bras maternels et non debout comme dans l’autre exemple. Selon Vogel, l’originalité d’une telle sculpture aurait suscité l’admiration des connaisseurs, leur appréciation des qualités esthétiques s’exprimant dans ce cas par les mots o efe (« la statue est agréable »), o ti klanman (« la statue est belle ») et o ti kpa (« la statue est bonne »).
This important Baule maternity is certainly the work of the same artist who carved the example illustrated in Vogel, S., Baule. African Art, Western Eyes, London, 1997, p. 96. The statue shown here is distinguished by its rich, oozing patina, and by the position of the child, here lying in the mother's arms and not standing as in the other example. According to Vogel, the originality of such a sculpture would have aroused the admiration of connoisseurs, their appreciation of aesthetic qualities being expressed in this case by the words o efe ("the statue is pleasant"), o ti klanman ("the statue is beautiful") and o ti kpa ("the statue is good").
This important Baule maternity is certainly the work of the same artist who carved the example illustrated in Vogel, S., Baule. African Art, Western Eyes, London, 1997, p. 96. The statue shown here is distinguished by its rich, oozing patina, and by the position of the child, here lying in the mother's arms and not standing as in the other example. According to Vogel, the originality of such a sculpture would have aroused the admiration of connoisseurs, their appreciation of aesthetic qualities being expressed in this case by the words o efe ("the statue is pleasant"), o ti klanman ("the statue is beautiful") and o ti kpa ("the statue is good").