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127
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BAGA, Guinea Coast.
See original version (French)
127
-
BAGA, Guinea Coast.
See original version (French)
Estimate €5,000 - €8,000
Voluntary lot
Description
BAGA, Guinea Coast.
Hardwood, upholstery nails, metal.
From the 15th century onwards, the Baga people, originally from Fouta Djallon, were gradually forced to leave their territories under pressure from incursions by Islamised Fulani. These displacements led them to settle along the coast of present-day Guinea, in scattered communities stretching from the Conakry region to the Rio Componi, near the border with Guinea-Bissau.
Upon arriving in their new territories, they re-established their social and religious organisation around a guardian figure, an image of the nurturing mother, full of kindness and compassion, the bestower of fertility and life.
This imposing ‘Nimba’ sculpture, in the form of a large female bust resting on four upright legs, is characterised by a long, drooping bosom which symbolically represents this nurturing mother.
The admirable composition of this shoulder mask, with its majestic scale, is enhanced by the addition of brass nails.
This representation has profoundly influenced Western modernism. According to William Rubin, Picasso’s acquisition of a ‘Nimba’ in the 1920s is said to have notably inspired his ‘Head of a Woman’ series, namely the portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter, his partner from 1927 to 1935.
H. 139 cm.
(damage and losses, restorations).
Provenance: former collection of Professor Jacques LAFFONT, a graduate of the 1949 intake at the École de Santé Navale in Bordeaux. Between 1949 and 1966, he spent a long period in Africa, where he practised and taught, notably as holder of the chair of anatomy and surgical medicine at the French Faculty of Medicine in Dakar.
Expert: Christian NJIENSI
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Ref. : 0027117 - 10
Pictures modified on 09/23/2026 at 12:43 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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