AN IMPORTANT AND LARGE (192 CM) CARVED WOOD ‘MOTHER AND CHILD’ GROUP, BAMANA CULTURE, MALI, 19TH CENTURY OR EARLIER
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Expert’s Note: We date this sculpture conservatively to the 19th century or earlier. However, an AMS radiocarbon (C14) analysis carried out at ETH Zurich leaves open a distinct possibility of a substantially earlier date. The ETH test produced calibrated age ranges that include a 34.9% probability for the late 17th to 18th century (AD 1679–1769), alongside a later 19th-century window, and explicitly notes that due to the form of the calibration curve multiple true age ranges are possible. Importantly, an independent scholarly assessment by Prof. Dr. Hans Witte, recorded in an undated written opinion issued by Italiaander Galleries, attributes the sculpture to the 17th century, possibly even the 16th century, and describes it as very rare; Witte was formerly curator of the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal and later professor at the University of Groningen, making his opinion one grounded in long curatorial and academic experience and direct familiarity with early, pre-colonial African sculpture. While any dating prior to secure context must remain very cautious, the combination of an ETH C14 result that allows earlier chronologies and a strong stylistic attribution by a noted scholar provides clear indications that this sculpture may well predate the 19th century and could plausibly belong to the 17th or even late 16th century corpus.

The narrow, elongated head with its braids and elegant headdress rising from a long, graceful neck, and flowing seamlessly into the beautifully elongated female body with prominent breasts. Her gently sweeping arms embrace the child while she sits on her chair supported by a backrest. The comparatively short legs make up roughly one-fifth of the sculpture’s total height.

Published:
1. Kristian Fenzl and Armand Duchâteau, Afrika Ethno-Kunst, 1997, Bergbau Museum Klagenfurt, p. 58, no. 44.
2. Reynold C. Kerr, Mother Africa, 2002, Kerr Museum Productions, New York, p. 47 and 148.

Exhibited:
1. Bergbau Museum, Afrika Ethno-Kunst, Klagenfurt, Austria, 1997.
2. Kunsthalle Krems, Afrika-Kopfskulpturen, Krems an der Donau, Austria, 26 July 1998 – 18 October 1998.
3. The Schomburg Center, New York, USA, 2002.
4. Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madre África, Madrid, Spain, 2004.
5. Museo del IES Canarias Cabrera Pinto, Tenerife, Spain, 2004.
6. Centro de Arte La Regenta, Las Palmas, Spain, 2004.
7. Museo del Hombre Dominicano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2007.

Scientific Analysis Reports:
1. A radiocarbon dating certificate was issued by the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule), Zurich, on 31 March 2009, dating the present lot from 1815-1927 (71.5 %), consistent with the dating above. A copy the document accompanies the lot.
2. Another radiocarbon dating certificate was issued by the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule), Zurich, on 23 August 2001, dating the sample taken to 1802-1939 (65.1 %), consistent with the dating above. A copy of the document accompanies the lot.

Art Loss Register: Certificate reference number S00266208 from 15 December 2025. A copy of this document accompanies this lot.

Provenance:
1. Jan Porel collection, Göteborg, Sweden, since 1920.
2. A Dutch private collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
3. Italiaander Galleries, Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 1995.
4. Professor Mag. Kristian Fenzl, Institut für Ethnodesign, Linz, Austria, acquired from the above.
5. Collection of Gerhard Merzeder (b. 1963), internationally published and acclaimed fashion and portrait photographer, Vienna, Austria, assembled since the 1980s, acquired from the above on 12 November 2001, for a purchase price of ATS 880,000 or EUR 114,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

Provenance documents:
- A copy of the signed provenance certificate from Italiaander Galleries, Amsterdam, November 1995, confirming the Jan Porel provenance, accompanies the lot.
- A copy of the signed authentication certificate from Dr. Armand Duchâteau, confirming both the Professor Fenzl and Italiaander Galleries provenance, accompanies the lot.
- A copy of the signed and stamped invoice from Institut für Ethno Design, Professor Fenzl, Linz, on 12 November 2001, accompanies the lot.

Kristian Fenzl (born 1946) is an Austrian sculptor, painter, illustrator, designer, and university professor. He studied at the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien (University of Applied Arts), where he trained in metal design under Franz Hagenauer, and in 1975 completed postgraduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. In 1984, he co-founded the Institut für Ethnodesign in Linz with ethnologist Fritz Trupp and social psychologist Norbert Minkendorfer, an interdisciplinary center from which numerous publications have emerged.

Condition: Good condition with extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, natural cracks, splits, some losses, chips, traces of insect activity, and few repairs to exposed areas.

Weight: 48.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 192 cm

In south-central Mali, the statues associated with the Jo initiation rites—the Jomooni—and their female counterparts from the Gwan tradition, the Gwandusu, were long kept hidden from uninitiated eyes within sanctuaries that remained undisturbed for generations. Their existence was so carefully guarded that, in 1953, ethnologist Viviana Pâques, despite extensive field research on the cult, remained entirely unaware of them. Only a few years later, the unexpected emergence of a small group—roughly a dozen figures—created a sensation at the exhibition of Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan at the Museum of Primitive Art in New York.

The Bamana (Bambara) are the largest population group in Mali and, alongside the Dogon, are considered the most important carvers. Secret societies are widespread among them, and the initiation of these societies features a great variety of masks. Only a few large sculptures are known, most often in the form of a mother and child. They were made by blacksmiths and are therefore called numumani (‘little person of the blacksmith’).

These effigies were used during rituals intended to promote fertility or to ensure a serene pregnancy for expectant mothers. Seated - or more rarely, standing - pregnant or bearing children, occasionally accompanied by male figures, they were venerated through anointments of shea butter followed by lavish ablutions.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related wood figure of a mother and child, Bamana culture, Mali, dated 1279-1395, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, reference number M.2014.19.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 16 June 2025, lot 16
Price: EUR 252,000 at the time of writing
Description: A Bamana Figure, Mali
Expert remark: Compare the similar form and expression. Note the smaller size (133 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 3 December 2020, lot 66
Price: EUR 225,000 or approx. EUR 260,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Bamana figure, Gwandusu, Mali
Expert remark: Compare the similar form and pose. Note the smaller size (92 cm).