Huge 20th C. African Baga Painted Wood Bird / a-Bamp

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 13, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-02-13 10:00:00 2020-02-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-4848
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• Lot Description
  West Africa, Guinea, Baga peoples, ca. early to mid-20th century CE. A hand-carved wooden statue of gargantuan proportions depicting a long-necked egret known as an 'a-Bamp' (also a-Bemp) resting upon an integral conical base. The ample avian exhibits an ovoid body layered with incised feathers in red, white, and dark-blue hues, lowered wings with low relief chevron 'feathers' that include yellow pigment, a tapered tail with additional feathering, and a high-arching neck decorated with additional chevrons and a blue-and-yellow flower near each temple. The downcast head stares outward with yellow-rimmed ovoid eyes, a lengthy white-painted beak, and a tall crest with four colorful feathers. A narrow, steepled handle protrudes from the back and is flanked by a pair of petite hornbill birds, and atop the crane's neck rests a white fish with blue diamond-shaped scales. Size: 15" W x 57.2" H (38.1 cm x 145.3 cm); 59.1" H (150.1 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Traditional African woodcarvers are renowned because of how they capture an animal's true nature, and the Baga were some of the most adept at doing so. The Baga are firm believers in their perceptions of birds as protector creatures imbued with powerful magic to protect against evil witchcraft and ensure plentiful harvests. Avian statues like this example were placed near homes, businesses, and agricultural areas to ensure that nothing of detriment would occur. Egrets are known as some of the fastest birds in Africa, and the eye-catching patterns and vivid coloration of this statue illustrate a sense of both stasis and locomotion.
  
  For a stylistically similar example of an a-Bamp, please see: Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy Ingram Nooter. "African Art in American Collections | Survey 1989." Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Pennsylvania, 2004, p. 141, figs. 241-242.
  
  Provenance: private Glendale, Arizona, USA collection, collected from 1970 to 2000
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #152824

  Condition

  Nicks and abrasions to base, body, wings, head, and smaller animals, with several stable fissures, fading and chipping to original pigment, minor inactive insect damage, and wear to base commensurate with being stuck in the ground, otherwise intact and excellent. Nice earthen deposits and great traces of original pigment throughout.
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