Antique African Female Ancestor Sculpture

Details

Description

Some figures are carved to be looked at from one angle. This one rewards walking all the way around it. … Read more Some figures are carved to be looked at from one angle. This one rewards walking all the way around it. The face is quiet and composed, smooth planes, a calm downward gaze, the kind of expression carvers reserve for figures meant to be lived with rather than performed to. What stops you is the pair of woven rattan discs framing the head like a halo, cane worked in tight concentric rings, paired with a small woven cap at the crown, a deliberate contrast between the dark, hand-polished wood of the body and the pale, textured cane. The proportions are quietly confident rather than dramatic, an elongated neck, arms resting easily at the sides, hands meeting low at the belly, standing on a base carved as one continuous piece with the figure rather than mounted separately.

At 23 inches, it has real presence without demanding an entire console to itself. Put it somewhere it can be seen in profile as well as head on, a shelf end, a windowsill with good light, anywhere those woven discs can catch the light and do what they're carved to do.

**Please bear in mind that colors of products shown may vary slightly from their original color due to monitor display settings or photography studio. See less