Statuette en pierre, Sapi, Sierra Leone

Collection Mario Meneghini, Monrovia, ca. 1970
Collection privée

Tagliaferri & Hammacher, Fabulous Ancestor. Stone carvings from Sierra Leone & Guinea, 1974, p. 80-82, n°55-57
Tagliaferri, Stili del potere, 1989, n°35-37
Bassani, Africa, capolavori da un continente, 2003, n°1.79
Meneghini, Collecting African Art in Liberia and Neighboring Countries, 1963 - 1989, 2007, p. 200, n°XII

Cette statuette s'inscrit dans un corpus remarquable de cinq œuvres lithiques très anciennes, dont la première connue entra dans les collections du musée du Trocadéro en 1902 (musée du quai Branly, inv. n°71.1902.28.3). Leur style s'apparente à celui des têtes-piédestal découvertes dans la même région : yeux à demi fermés par de lourdes paupières semblant exprimer le calme et l'intériorité du personnage, et rendu naturaliste de la parure (coiffe, barbe, ornements). Elles s'en différencient cependant par l'axe vertical de la tête et par leur représentation en pied -  ici en position accroupie, le bras droit enserrant les genoux.

Celle-ci se distingue par la large tête arborant une sorte de turban orné d'un bijou, qui pourrait aussi représenter une coiffure très élaborée. Le statut du personnage est signifié par ses ornements : boucles d’oreilles imposantes, collier de perles, multiples bracelets portés aux poignets et avant-bras, et anneaux de chevilles. Son seul vêtement est une sangle ou une ceinture marquant la taille. Il porte un sac dans le dos, reposant sur l'épaule droite, tandis que sur le côté gauche se distingue ce qui pourrait être un chasse-mouches. Au XVI^e siècle, les premiers voyageurs portugais en Sierra Leone décrivirent dans leurs récits les boucles d’oreilles et les ornements de nez en or portés par les chefs et les membres des élites locales Temne et Bullom, que les Portugais désignaient globalement sous le nom de Sapi, et dont les ancêtres étaient les créateurs de ces anciennes pierres sculptées. Si nous ne pouvons conjecturer sur sa signification, il semble raisonnable de considérer ce personnage comme un membre de l’ancienne élite Sapi. 

Commentaire de William Hart, mars 2013

 

Sapi stone figure, Sierra Leone

This figure is one of a number of ancient stone figures from Sierra Leone that have features in common with the pedestal heads found in the same area: namely hooded eyes represented by prominent upper eyelids, and relatively naturalistic renderings of facial hair and jewellery. Unlike the pedestal heads, however, the figure’s whole body is shown, seated in a squatting position, right arm across its knees. And whereas in the pedestal heads the main axis is horizontal, with the head tilted backwards and the eyes looking straight ahead, in this figure, as in other figures of this group, the main axis is vertical, with the head held upright and the eyes downcast, conveying a sense of inwardness and calm.

The earliest collected example of this group of stone figures is (1), a seated figure given to the musée du Trocadéro in Paris in 1902 by Julien LeCesne of the Compagnie Française de l’Afrique Occidentale (C.F.A.O.) in Sierra Leone. It is today in the musée du quai Branly (71.1902.28.3). The other examples have come to light only recently. They include (2) a stone head, probably part of a larger figure, that was Lot 18 in Loudmer’s auction in Paris on 24 April 1997; (3) the sculpture of a seated couple, male and female, in a private collection in the United States; and (4) another seated figure, lacking the top and back of the head, that in 2007 was in the possession of Jeremiah Cole in Las Vegas.

The dominant feature of this figure is the large head wearing what looks like a turban with a jewel in the front, but it could also be an elaborate ‘Afro’-style hair-do. It has a neat goatee-like beard that rests lightly on the figure’s crossed right arm. That this is a person of status is indicated by his wearing ear-rings, a necklace of beads, multiple bangles on each wrist or forearm, and rings around both ankles. There is a strap or belt at the waist, but otherwise the figure appears to be naked. Behind the right shoulder there hangs a bag and on the left side lower down what could be a fly-whisk. We know from the reports of sixteenth century Portuguese visitors to Sierra Leone that gold ear- and nose-rings were worn by chiefs and members of the local Temne and Bullom elites, whom the Portuguese referred to generally as Sapi, and whose ancestors were responsible for the ancient stone sculptures. It is therefore a reasonable conjecture that the person represented in this figure was a member of an earlier Sapi elite, but what the significance of such a representation might be we do not know.

Commentary by William Hart, Mars 2013