Superbe statue féminine , Bamana, Mali

Christine Valluet - Yann Ferrandin, Paris
Collection Lionel Sergent

Very good condition overall. Wear consistent with age and use within the culture : old small and well patinated loss to the proper right ear and to the top of the crescent headdress, as visible in the catalogue illustration. Dark encrusted and shiny patina.
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La remarquable dynamique des volumes, la délicatesse des scarifications géométriques envahissant le corps et la patine sombre, luisante, portent à son paroxysme l'expression de la beauté féminine dans le sud du pays Bamana.

"Utilisées lors des initiations septennales et portées de village en village par les initiés, [les statues] participent de l'exhibition de valeurs du Jo" (Salia Malé in Colleyn, 2002 : 154). Elles incarnent la femme idéale, féconde et "à son plus haut degré d'attraction physique" - seins fermes et généreux, fessier rebondi et hanches étroites - à laquelle peuvent prétendre les initiés du Jo au terme de leur initiation. Cette beauté idéale est mise en valeur par les scarifications en chevrons finement gravées sur l'abdomen, le dos et la tête - telles qu'elles ornaient autrefois le corps des adolescentes, tandis que la patine sombre, luisante, évoquerait selon Kate Ezra (1986 : 17) le corps des jeunes filles Bamana se préparant pour les danses.

cf. Colleyn (2002 : 155, cat. 137) pour une statue stylistiquement très apparentée, provenant de la région de Koulikoro ; et Sweeney (1935 : n° 4) pour une autre provenant de la collection André Level, présentée dans l'exposition African Negro Art au MoMA, en 1935.

Superb Bamana female figure, Mali

The remarkable dynamism of the volumes, the delicacy of the geometric scarification which cover the body, and the dark glossy patina, bring to a climax the ultimate expression of female beauty amongst the southern Bamana.

"used during seven year long initiations and carried from village to village by initiates, [the statues] are part of  the display of values of Jo" (Salia Malé in Colleyn, 2002 : 154).  They embody the ideal woman, fruitful and displaying the " highest degree of physical attraction"- firm and generous breasts, ample buttocks, and narrow hips, an ideal which the initates hope to claim after their initiation. This ideal of beauty is enhanced by the scarfications in finely engraved chevrons on the abdomen, the back, and the head – as they once would have adorned the bodies of adolescent girls, while according to Kate Ezra (1986:17) the dark, glossy, patina evokes  the bodies of young Bamana girls as they prepare for dances.

cf. Colleyn (2002 : 155, cat. 137)  for a stylistically related statue from the Koulikoro region, and Sweeney (1935 : n^o 4 ) for another from the collection of André Level, exhibited in the African Negro Art exhibition at MoMA in 1935.