Mupo figure - Lot 128

Lot n° 128
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Estimation :
300 - 400 EUR
Mupo figure - Lot 128
Mupo figure Grassfields (Bamiléké?), Cameroon Carved wood First half of the 20th century Height: 11 cm Provenance : Former Joaquin Pecci collection, Brussels This anthropomorphic Mu'po statuette, whose small size fits in with the aesthetic canons of the corpus, powerfully illustrates that the power of a votive object lies not in its size, but in the spiritual intensity it concentrates. Mu'po effigies were the favored accessories of diviners in the Bamileke region, accompanying a variety of divinatory and therapeutic ritual practices. Sometimes attached to warriors' belts, sometimes hung as hunting talismans or installed in fields to watch over the harvest, they were also guarded by Ku'n'gan mask wearers, and were associated with fertility and protection for pregnant women. The effigy's superb brown crusty patina with reddish highlights bears witness to the ritual anointing performed by the diviner, mixing sacrificial substances and medicinal preparations. The effigy is distinguished by a subtle formal asymmetry: the unequal bending of the legs, as well as the slight asymmetry of the gaze, contribute to a striking expressiveness, conferring on the figure a moving humanity. Mu'po statuettes are characterized by a wide variety of hand postures. On this example, the small arms, pressed against the bulbous abdomen and raised to chest level, illustrate one of these gestural variants. According to Pierre Harter, each carries a specific symbolic meaning. Vertical crack around the skull, along the aretenasal line. Beautiful glossy patina and pigment residues, probably padouk. In good condition.
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