BoW-38 / Akua'ba - Akan (Asante), Ghana

Height: 12 in / 30.5 cm

ex Segy Gallery (Ladislas Segy), NY, USA (active by 1950s)
ex Adam Ross Fischer, UK
ex Louis Nierijnck, The Netherlands

Wood, pigment

A very classic and beautiful figure with a wonderful expression. The mark in the center of the head is actually the central core from the wood that it was carved from. The deeply ridged brows with finely incised angular notching is an uncommon feature among akua’mma. In Ron van Doorn’s book it states that about 4% of those surveyed had this feature. The carving of the eyebrows on this one, with their angular marks, are especially nice among that group. It is interesting to note that the angular marks in the eyebrows all face one direction instead of one side pointing right and one side pointing left. A small but interesting feature.

The back of the head shows significantly more wear than the rest of the figure, with the original blackened surface largely rubbed away. This contrast likely reflects repeated handling and contact over time, whether from being carried against the body, wrapped in cloth, or placed and removed from shrine settings, resulting in localized abrasion that softened the surface far more than elsewhere.

$2000 plus shipping