This is the rating and price for African Baule Wood Gbekre / Simian, 2011

Description : West Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Baule people, ca. early 20th century CE. An intriguing example of a standing 'Gbekre' figure carved from a single piece of wood. The simian figure stands with delineated legs atop an integral circular base, holds its biceps in front of the tapered abdomen, wears a simple loincloth around the waist, and has sloped shoulders that taper to a narrow neck. The head exhibits wide eyes beneath puffy brows, a tapered snout with a carved-out mouth, cupped ears, and a rounded top. Statues like this example, as opposed to the more refined ancestral figures, were rough, unpolished carvings that represented the deity Gbekre who symbolized the indistinguishable differences between human and animal behavioral traits. Size: 6.75 W x 26.3 H (17.1 cm x 66.8 cm), 28.25 H (71.8 cm) on included custom stand. This figure represents Gbekre (also Mbotumbo), a multi-faceted god known as a 'medicant monkey' who was a helper for those who required assistance as well as an entity who judged souls damned to hell. Gbekre statues are used by various divination cults and patriarchal societies for comparing the behaviors of animals to those of men as well as determing to what extent such primal behaviors can be fixed within each individual. As a result, these cults and societies have forbidden women from laying eyes upon the sacred effigies. A stylistically similar figure, at roughly half the size and with intact arms, hammered for EUR 21,150 ($23,477.87) at Sotheby's, Paris Arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie auction (December 14, 2011, lot 25). Provenance: ex-Bernard Dulon collection, ex-Alain Dufour collection, ex-Sotheby's, Paris Art Africain, Oceanien et d'Asie du Sud-Est auction (December 7, 2005, lot 63) 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. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #151256
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