356 - ANTHROPOMORPHIC STATUETTE DEPICTING A WOMAN CARRYING A JAR. Carved from a single piece of wood, with polychrome pigment highlights (black, red, white, yellow, green).

ANTHROPOMORPHIC STATUETTE DEPICTING A WOMAN CARRYING A JAR. Carved from a single piece of wood, with polychrome pigment highlights (black, red, white, yellow, green). Dimensions: 68 cm tall. A standing woman holding a jar on her head, wearing a belt and jewelry (around her neck, wrists, and knees). Her neck is trilobed, a symbol of wealth, particularly in West Africa. This statuette of a water carrier illustrates Sidney Kasfir’s theory, which rejects the classification of market art as mere worthless copies and instead views it as a postcolonial artistic expression in its own right. In good overall condition, with slight wear on the painted patina consistent with its age (small chips on the second toe of both feet). Research and documentation: Coryse Mwape, art historian specializing in ancient African art. Internal ref.: