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This is the rating and price for Anthropomorphic Head Sculpture Mahen Yafe - Sierra Leone / Western Liberia, 2009



Description : heavy stone, brown paint, base In a wide area of Sierra Leone and western Liberia, mostly on the present-day settlement area of the Mende and Kono, head sculptures mahen yafe were repeatedly unearthed during earthworks. Almost all objects were found by farmers when clearing their fields, digging wells or digging for diamonds. It is beliefed that the mahen yafe were made by the disappeared Sapi people or their ancestors (Schädler, 2009, p. 532) who once inhabited these areas. Their exact use is unknown. It is speculated that they might have been used as effigy heads or portraits set on the ground or on low altars in commemoration of deceased Sapi chiefs. Mahen yafe means head of the chief. Besides the stone heads mahen yafe, smaller sculptures are also found again and again. Sculptures generally referred to by the Mende term nomoli are for the most part found in south-esatern Sierra Leone. Another group of carvings, found further inland, is nowadays referred to by the Kissi term pomdo. Published In: Fouchet, Max-Pol, Jacques Kerchache, La Tête, Galerie Jacques Kerchache, Paris 1966, ill. 25, Tribal Arts, No. III, 2 August 1996, p. 53 (adv. Merton Simpson), Bolz, Franziska, African Art, Köln 2016, p. 22 (as Sapi) AHDRC: 0115012 Continent: Africa
Price: 0.00 USD It's free to register now to view!
Estimate (low-high) : 12000 EUR-20000 EUR It's free to register now to view!

About the lot N° 219
Title : Anthropomorphic Head Sculpture Mahen Yafe - Sierra Leone / Western Liberia, Period : 2009
Size : H: 30 cm, H: 11,8 inch
Provenance : Jacques Kerchache, Paris, France (1966) Merton Simpson, New York, USA (1996) Private Collection, Lowell, USA
Literature : Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, p. 532 Tagliaferri, Aldo, Pomdo, Mahen Yafe and Nomoli, Paris 2003, p. 23 ff.
Condition report : See description
Zemanek-Muenster, auctioneer, Würzburg, DE It's free to register now to view!
Sale title : 99 Auction - Africa, Oceania, Pre-Columbia
Sale date : 12 Nov 2022 It's free to register now to view!
Sale Reference : Live Sale

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