SHRINE FIGURE
Anonymous artist
Cross River, Nigeria. 16th-19th century
Coppery Alloy. Height: 23 cm
Provenance:
Franco Monti, Milan, Italy
Galeria Arte y Ritual,
Antonio and Ana Casanovas, Madrid, Spain
Galerie Flak, Paris, France, 2009
Private Collection, France
Beaussant-Lefèvre, 8 December 2023, lot 65.
Private Collection, Antwerp, Belgium
The figure’s facial features are represented in slight relief by circles with protruding ears, eyes, and open mouth arranged in a horizontal line – characteristically for the style. The pronounced round head with a massive neck features a central head crest. This sagittal crest descends the face until it meets the nose. Diagonal scarification lines decorate the cheeks. Single and double decorative bands can be found at the neck, upper arms, wrists, waist, and ankles. These twisted rope patterns most likely represent jewelry. Decorative circular motifs can be discovered on the top of the torso, on the back of the hand, along the spinal column and on the upper back of the legs. The figure features a prominent umbilicus and male sex. The arms are outstretched forward.
The present work shares all these characteristics with three other known examples: one in the Musée du quai Branly, another hold by Houston’s Menil Collection and a third privately owned and sold by Christie’s in Paris in 2018. In addition, several others figures in this style can be identified, including three others in the Menil collection. All have stocky legs with blobby feet (several with claw-like toes), and rows of spiral on their torsos and limbs. Philip Peek in his study (infra shared that the Menil group had been undergone extensive XRF analyses, revealing that all figures were made from low-tin leaded bronze alloys, with low zinc levels suggesting a pre-18th century creation date.
This enigmatic group of bronze figures stands apart from the usual southern Nigerian presentation of highly stylized but naturalistic representations of human figures. In his 2021 publication “The Lower Niger Bronzes”, Philip M. Peek dedicated a chapter to the “Human and Humanoid Figures” found in the region (pp. 71-90). Evaluating the known examples, Peek concluded that within the larger corpus of Lower Niger Bronzes, there are several groups of figures with shared features (if not functions) that were cast over a long period of time in several casting centers. While one might initially assume these figures were created for shrine decoration, their appearance defies easy explanations. As Peek writes: ‘They clearly do not represent living (or even deceased) humans, but one might wonder if they represent local deities. Their appearances are definitely intentional and well-executed, but to what end !?” (op. cit., p. 89) One can only guess at these figures original functions. However, as several were observed and photographed in shrines, such a context seems a safe conclusion.
Yako priest with shrine figures, photographed by Keith Nicklin, Cross River, 1970s. (published in Peek (Philip M.) , “The Lower Niger Bronzes: Beyond Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, and Benin”, New York, 2020, p. 81, fig.7.4).
Cross River shrine figure. Private Collection. Height: 29 cm. Published in: Carini (Vittorio), “A Hidden Heritage, Sculture africane in collezione private italiane”, Milano, 2004, p. 210.
Collection Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris, France (73.1996.1.6). Height: 25,5 cm. Collected by K.C. Murray for the National Museum in Lagos in 1946 in Ikot Ndemeno, Atan Onoyuem, near Itu in Enyong Division (southeastern Nigeria). Published in: Nicklin (Keith), “An Anthropomorphic Bronze from the Cross River”, in Connaissance Des Arts Tribaux, Bulletin, nr.16, Geneva: Musée Barbier-Mueller, 1980. The TL analyses of these figures gave an approximative casting date of 1850 CE and a metals breakdown of 66,4% copper, 27,8 % lead, 0,83 % arsenic, 2,53 % tin, and 0,92 % zinc.
These five Cross River bronzes (including a wonderful hippo) were acquired in Africa by the French art dealer Alain Dufour, who sold them to the Antwerp-based dealer Lucien Van de Velde circa 1970. Merton D. Simpson later acquired the group from Van de Velde, selling them to Dominique de Menil in 1978. They have been at the Menil Foundation since 1998. (also see Van Dyke (Kristina), ed., “African Art from The Menil Collection”, New Haven, 2008, p. 141, #64).
The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, USA (Y805). Height: 26,6 cm
The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, USA (Y803). Height: 25,4 cm
Private Collection. Height: 25 cm. Sold at: Christie’s, Paris, 10 April 2018. Lot 56.
Private Collection. Height: 25,5 cm. Sold at Sotheby’s, Paris, “Collection Hélène Leloup, Le Journal d’une Pionnière, Vol. I”, 21 June 2023. Lot 13.
This museum-quality work of art is still available - discover more on our website here. You can explore “The World is Dancing a Masquerade” catalog through the button below. We examine the stories behind sixteen unique antique Nigerian artworks, each a testament to the profound intertwining of art, spirituality, and craftsmanship. Each object has been studied thoroughly with in-depth essays and comparable examples.