16 - Statue Fang Mabea, Sud Cameroun

Statue Fang Mabea, Sud Cameroun 19th century Wood, upholstery nails Restoration of the right leg H. 45 cm Height with base: 50.5 cm Possessing great sculptural power, this male ancestral figure belongs to one of the rarest and most distinctive groups of Fang statuary. With its exceptionally slender silhouette and masterful precision of construction, it offers a remarkably elegant interpretation of the idealized naturalism that characterizes Mabea statuary from southern Cameroon. Their sculptural tradition, documented as early as the German colonial period, remains exceptionally limited: only about ten Fang-Mabea effigies had made their way to Europe before World War II. Three major master sculptors, each with his own distinctive style, have thus been identified within this body of work, the most famous examples of which come notably from the collections of Frank Burty Haviland, Félix Fénéon, and Josef Müller, in addition to the figures housed at the Hamburg Museum and the Barbier-Mueller Museum. Depicted in a semi-seated posture, the figure displays powerful modeling that tends toward the “idealized naturalism” noted by Louis Perrois in Mabea’s statuary. The broad, curved shoulders, strongly defined pectorals, and clavicular hollows give the torso a generous presence, while the particularly well-developed arms extend down to the hands—carefully rendered as individual features and resting on the upper thighs. The large, meticulously sculpted ears extend this skillfully articulated anatomy. The satiny surface, with its warm amber hue, further accentuates the softness of the modeling. Provenance - W.D. Webster, Bicester, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, no. 73954 - Belgian private collection Littérature Reproduced in W.D. Webster, Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnological Specimens, European and Eastern Arms and Armor, Prehistoric and Other Curiosities, 1899, Vol. 3, No. 22 Comparative work, likely by the same artist, reproduced in: Charles-Wesley Hourdé and Jean-Pierre Weill (eds.), Éloge du corps. Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: The Josette and Jean-Claude Weill Collection, Milan, 5 Continents, 2019, pp. 110–113 Main bibliographic references cited: Louis Perrois, Byéri Fang: Ancestral Sculptures in Africa, exhibition catalog [Marseille, Museum of African, Oceanic, and Native American Arts, Centre de la Vieille Charité, June 6–September 6, 1992], Paris, RMN, 1992 Ibid., in *Fang*, exhibition catalog [Paris, Galerie Ratton-Hourdé], Ratton-Hourdé, 2006, pp. 72–73 Ibid., “From the Archetype of African Sculpture to a Masterpiece of Universal Art History,” regarding the Fang statue Mabea Fénéon, sold at Sotheby’s Paris on June 18, 2014, for over 4 million euros