AFRICAN ART ANTIQUE ANCESTOR FIGURE.

Traditional religion among many African groups involves worship of the gods through the intervention of ancestors. As the deceased has gone to be with the gods, it followed that favor of the gods would be granted if an ancestor requested it. In some beliefs, the living were not worthy to communicate with gods, but must use an ancestor as an intermediary. This is a carved wood ancestor figure from West Africa, of the Ashante. It is 16 ½” tall and depicts a woman of relative youth with high sculptured hair. All African carvings are of unseasoned wood and crack over time. This one has a crack with remnants of filler material from its time of use. This would date between the wars, about 1930 and shows a blend of traditional sculpture with some colonial influence. Condition is as shown. 81BF

Much of the tribal art on the market is not traditional, but made for the trade, whether tourist or export. Of these, a great deal has been artificially "aged" to emulate traditional items. We began collecting tribal art over 30 years ago and bought only from tribal art sales at the top international auction houses. In those days, much genuine material came out of English family holdings and old collections such as the Muller and Levinge collections. Even items from the legendary Pitt-Rivers Collection came to market and we purchased from all of these as well as others such as the G. Mennen Williams collection. Our own collection numbers over 1000 pieces and we are now selling all of it.