Tall 20th C. African Ijo Wood Bush Spirit, ex-Sotheby's

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CLEARANCE | Ancient & Ethnographic Art

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 17, 2022

Set Reminder 2022-02-17 10:00:00 2022-02-17 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : CLEARANCE | Ancient & Ethnographic Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/clearance-ancient-ethnographic-art-8898
Join us for our first clearance sale of the year featuring discounted pricing and many new items! Asian art, Classical antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the Near East...plus Pre-Columbian, Tribal, Spanish Colonial, Fine Art, Fossils, more! Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  **Originally Listed At $4000**
  
  West Africa, Nigeria, Cross River region, Ijo people, ca. first half of the 20th century CE. An incredible example of a hand-carved wooden bush spirit that stands with delineated legs atop an integral oblong plinth. The figure wears a cloth skirt with an upper fringe lined with cowrie snail shells, wears a red-dyed necklace with additional cowrie shells, and grasps a painted iron 'blade' in his hands. The nasal bridge extends up from the triangular nose and bisects the protruding, glass-inlaid eyes, and the elongated head is topped with an orange-red, black, and white hat with a short brim. Size: 7.5" W x 37.25" H (19 cm x 94.6 cm); 40.25" H (102.2 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  The Ijo live all along the coast of the Niger River Delta. According to Anderson (in Anderson and Peek 2002: 91), "ethnographic record confirms that the Ijo and their closest neighbors - including the Isoko, Itsekiri, and Urhobo - were warlike peoples." As a result, much of Ijo statuary revolves around the theme of mythical warfare and warriors. And Anderson (loc. Cit.: 105) continues: the "Ijo hold that human beings befriend, marry, and even bear children with nature spirits while awaiting birth in the creator's realm."
  
  For an example of a seven-headed bush spirit figure, please see the de Young / Legion of Honor Museum, museum number 2004.93
  
  Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Sotheby’s, New York "The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Oceanic, and Indonesian Art – Volume One" (November 15, 2013, lot 77); ex-Allan Stone collection, New York, USA
  
  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.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
  
  Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
  
  #156037

  Condition

  Bending to iron blade, with losses to areas of base, skirt, body, and head, fading and abrasions to original pigment, several stable fissures, desiccation and minor insect damage to skirt, and minor encrustations within some recessed areas. Great patina and light remains of pigment throughout.
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