Pair of Ci wara Bamana crests (Mali) - Lot 120

Pair of Ci wara Bamana crests (Mali) Wood. H. 70 and 71 cm Rare and important pair of crests featuring a pair of hippotrague antelopes with highly stylized highly stylized lines. The female, with her long neck flaring upwards and extended by two carries her young on her back. The latter, with its strongly curved neck, gives the whole a remarkable dynamic. The male takes on the sculptural dynamics of the fawn, even more accentuated. His head is adorned with engravings forming a geometric decoration. Both crests are decorated with upholsterer's nails and brass plates. and brass plates. Stylistically and typologically, this pair is part of an extremely limited corpus one of the only known examples of which, even though it was clearly carved by another hand within the same workshop, is the very famous female antelope formerly in the Vérité collection rightly considered to be one of the most beautiful known and reproduced in virtually all fundamental works on African art. Note: Waxed or varnished patina, old accidents, the right ear of the female is a reconstruction. The underside of the bases has been planed to make them stand straight. Bibliography : - Catalog of the sale "Vérité Enchères Rive Gauche" Paris June 17, 2006 n° 37 pages 36 and 37). Provenance : - Collected by Monsieur M. between 1909 and 1911 and kept by the family until 2010. - Sale Maître Aguttes Hôtel Drouot April 23, 2010 n° 105 - Private collection.