Struck by Lega (finally)!!

On November 21st and 22nd 2022 several items from the estate of Sara Roosevelt Wilford came up for auction across Sotheby’s and Doyle New York.

E1 – Sotheby’s : Art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
21 November 2022•14:00 EST New York
Lot #59 Yaure Mask, Côte d’Ivoire, possibly by Kuakudili

The Yaure piece sold well, helped by a Mathias Komor provenance and the fact that a snippet of the eye area was used as the lead-in to the auction. This piece should appreciate substantially in coming years.

The pieces (which sold) from the Doyle New York auction were an Edo Bronze Hip mask, a Lega, and an Ibeji.

If one considers the abstraction of the female figure, and further compartmentalizes the process of pregnancy the Lega is pretty thought provoking from several perspectives.

“The objects [Lega] represent moral or social values, and are used during initiation rites. The Bwami works of art are often associated with proverbs, and these proverbs in conjunction with dance, poetry and song give wisdom to members of the society. Beauty, knowledge and power are intertwined.” (see Lega)

Baby Belt Technique:

The carving demonstrates support for pregnancy via the ‘X’ across the belly area, which would have been accomplished using wraps or ties.

“For the ladies whose bellies are protruding outwards a good bit, you might like this technique. You will need two strips of tape [kinesio]. You are going to form an “X” at your belly button, starting at the bottom above your hip bones. While pulling the tape across your belly, you are going to make sure you pull firmly in order for the tape to hold your belly in place securely.

The carver uses the relative size of the small arms and hands supporting disproportionately larger breasts, and the larger size of the stomach area to subtly convey the differences stemming from pregnancy. The clean lines of the hips and legs illustrate reduced mobility and highlights the importance of the pregnancy. The calm stoic facial appearance promotes a peaceful countenance which is important to the fetus.

E2 Lega – Pregnant Woman (side view)

Finally the carver rolls the arms, and breasts straight into the neck in a seamless fashion, thus the strong neck and wide hips offer classic balance to the piece. To be honest I did give the Ibeji a little run but that was primarily to soften up the bidding on the Lega. It was always the Lega for the win!!

E1 Sotheby’s photo credit

E2 Doyle New York photo credit (set of four)

Larence, Oya and Oshun.

Michelle and I made an overnight road trip to Duxbury MA in June 2022 via DC, Baltimore, NY and CT. The event was an estate sale full of musical books, American folk art, portraits and African Tribal Art antiques. The collector was Larence Harley Smith (RIP), who passed the year prior at age 87. Although we thought getting there (even with a tire puncture on the turnpike) at 9am was great stuff, we couldn’t compare to his friend Lan Nelson who made the three day road trip from Kansas and arrived a bit before we did.

Five Pieces – Oloju Foforo mask (far left)

The estate sale staff were pretty great (special shout out to Diane McNamee, Marion Antiques) and kept everything orderly, even though the sale was spread between three buildings. I think our best purchase was a Sokoto terracotta, from Axel (a NJ collector) who also made the trip and who had some recent success selling pieces through Millea Brothers Auctions. We had been going back and forth for a couple years on the price and payment terms for this particular piece. This is the way. Axel had previously shared some advice that occasionally works at a live auction, “Throw in an early bid at a piece with a fairly high estimate range…. you never know”.

Sokoto

Back to Larence’s collection, the main pickup was the Ikenga, but the double tiered Oloju Foforo mask may prove to be the most interesting.

Oshun (?)

Oshun, the Yoruba orisha of the river is associated with the colors white, yellow, gold, and sometimes coral. Oya, is another of Shango’s wives and her colors are brown, dark red, and multicolored. What’s interesting is the first tier showing Shango in disguise, wearing locks of hair cut from either Oshun or Oya in order to avoid detection from unfriendly enemy forces. Based on the extensive use of yellow I think the mask represents team Oshun.

Typical single tiered Oloju Foforo Mask

Larence travelled extensively and this was reflected in the diversity of his pieces. It was clear that he had been bitten but not limited by the African Art bug, since most of the proceeds of the estate sale were to be donated to a Native American charity. Lately I find myself leaning to pieces with at least a little provenance but the most important driver in buying pieces for a personal collection should be based on personal impact or attraction to the piece.

African Tribes, Demographics, & The Slave Trade Map

Information on African Tribes – Demographics, Politics, Religion, History, Economy, Tribal Art, Neighboring Tribes, Culture, Language.

Aka	Akan	Akuapem	Akye	Anyi	Aowin
Asante	Babanki	Baga	Bali	Bamana	Bamileke
Bamum	Bangubangu	Bangwa	Baule	Beembe	Bembe
Benin Kingdom	Berber (Amazigh)	Bete	Bidyogo	Biombo	Bobo
Bushoong	Bwa	Cameroon Grasslands	Chokwe	Dan	Dengese
Diomande	Djenn�	Dogon	Ejagham	Eket	Ekoi
Esie	Fang	Fante	Fon	Frafra	Fulani
Guro	Hausa	Hemba	Holoholo	Ibibio	Idoma
Igala	Igbira	Igbo	Igbo Ukwu	Ijo	Kabre
Karagwe	Kassena	Katana	Kom	Kongo	Kota
Kuba	Kurumba	Kusu	Kwahu	Kwele	Kwere
Laka	Lega	Lobi	Luba	Luchazi	Luluwa
Lunda	Luvale	Lwalwa	Maasai	Makonde	Mambila
Mangbetu	Manja	Marka	Mbole	Mende	Mitsogo
Mossi	Mumuye	Namji (Dowayo)	Ngbaka	Nkanu	Nok
Nuna	Nunuma (Gurunsi)	Ogoni	Oron	Owo	Pende
Pokot	Punu	Salampasu	San	Sapi	Senufo
Shambaa	Shona	Songo	Songye	Suku	Swahili
Tabwa	Tuareg	Urhobo	We	Winiama	Wodaabe
Wolof	Woyo	Wum	Yaka	Yaure	Yombe
Yoruba	Zaramo	Zulu

 

Destinations of Slaves and their Origins

PROJECTED EXPORTS OF THAT PORTION OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH SLAVE TRADE HAVING IDENTIFIABLE REGION OF COAST ORIGIN IN AFRICA, 1711-1810. [1]

 

Senegambia (Senegal-Gambia) * 5.8%

Sierra Leone 3.4%

Windward Coast (Ivory Coast) * 12.1%

Gold Coast (Ghana) * 14.4%

Bight of Benin (Nigeria) * 14.5

Bight of Biafra (Nigeria) * 25.1%

Central and Southeast Africa (Cameroon-N. Angola) * 24.7%

SENEGAMBIA: Wolof, Mandingo, Malinke, Bambara, Papel, Limba, Bola, Balante, Serer, Fula, Tucolor

 

SIERRA LEONE: Temne, Mende, Kisi, Goree, Kru.

 

WINDWARD COAST (including Liberia): Baoule, Vai, De, Gola (Gullah), Bassa, Grebo.

 

GOLD COAST: Ewe, Ga, Fante, Ashante, Twi, Brong

 

BIGHT OF BENIN & BIGHT OF BIAFRA combined: Yoruba, Nupe, Benin, Dahomean (Fon), Edo-Bini, Allada, Efik, Lbibio, Ljaw, Lbani, Lgbo (Calabar)

 

CENTRAL & SOUTHEAST AFRICA: BaKongo, MaLimbo, Ndungo, BaMbo, BaLimbe, BaDongo, Luba, Loanga, Ovimbundu, Cabinda, Pembe, Imbangala, Mbundu, BaNdulunda

 

Other possible groups that maybe should be included as a “Ancestral group” of African Americans:

 

Fulani, Tuareg, Dialonke, Massina, Dogon, Songhay, Jekri, Jukun, Domaa, Tallensi, Mossi, Nzima, Akwamu, Egba, Fang, and Ge.

References

[1] http://wysinger.homestead.com/mapofafricadiaspora.html