Brass Figure

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could help me identify the following brass figure which I purchased a few months ago. It measures 9 1/2 inches.



Any help with id would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim

I have no idea where it's from. The costume looks to me like something a track and field athlete might wear.

Regards

Steve Price

Hello all,

Afro Dit has been very quiet these last few weeks.

This type of figurine has a rough similarity to Dan brass figurines that were produced in the early part of this century. Examples can be seen in the africa section of Barakatgallery.com under Dan ( don't pass out when you look at the prices), and the AMNH website. It takes a bit of work but when you finally get to the online african collection at the American Museum of Natural History, it's definitely worth it to bookmark it in your computer. (I have to thank this website for alerting me to the AMNH website) It features several great examples of these Dan figurines from Liberia.
This figure has a similar stance and height, and the modeling of the very full calves is characteristic, but the patina is not. (hard to tell but looks artificially aged with silver nitrate)
The only other examples I have seen which might be similar were attributed to the Fon, but I only saw one.

I would curious to know what information was avalable from the seller.

best,
Scott

Hi People

Scott sent me this image of a brass figure from the American Museum of Natural History site.



Thanks, Scott.

Steve Price

Dear Scott and Steve,

Many thanks for your terrific help. It certainly looks Dan but unfortunately not a patch on one of those amazing old examples in the Barakat gallery or the one from the AMNH. I purchased this piece from an antique dealer in Germany who advertised it simply as “an old bronze or brass figure“. I wasn’t so quick to spot the fake patina with an online photo but thankfully only paid a “decorative object” price. It made me smile when I read in the Barakat Gallery info that these brass sculptures were created by the Dan purely for decorative purposes. Fake patina and all it’s still one of my favourite pieces and I’m really grateful for the I.D. Thanks also for the AMNH link.

Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim,

I share your feeling very well. I have a figurine that I obtained in a similar manner which I greatly admire-but I can't vouch for it's authenticity.





From what I have learned, these figures were produced in the early part of this century before their production died out in Liberia and parts of the Ivory Coast. The clothing and paraphenalia associated with these figurines quite accurately reflect the cultural conditions at the time of their production. They have no cultural or religious associations as you mentioned, they are indeed simply "decorative".

best,
Scott

Picking up from another show and tell thread, I thought I might post a few pictures of brass figurines which all appear to have been produced by the same artist who worked in Liberia in the 1920'/30's. His name was Ldamie. There is a simply wonderful reference called FOUR DAN SCULPTORS by Barbara C Johnson (published in 1986 by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) which details the author's trips to Liberia, where she was able to interview the son of the artist among many others, and reveal to the western world the name of this artist, who was well known in his day, hailing from the town of Gaple, Liberia.



This figure is from the colllection in the Peabody Museum, Cambridge- collected by either George Schwab or George Harley, not sure which.



This figure by the same artist is one of several from the American Museum of Natural History-donated by Sidney De La Rue.



One more figurine from the AMNH collection. The collar around the dog's neck are iron bells which were used to signal their location because these dog could not bark. You might notice the interesting faceted appearance, which was produced by hammering the surface after the figure was removed from the mold.

I wanted to point out one last thing. In this thread's first 2 photos, the figurines are wearing costumes which are actually uniforms of the Liberian Frontier Force, which was a corps of soldiers which used extremely brutal means to assert and maintain Liberian government authority over hinterland tribal groups- during the early part of the 20th century.

One thing to point out of the last statue. The female is holding one of these ADZE HANDLE in her hand.

Joseph Arthur

Here's another figurine by this same Liberian brass-caster, Ldamie

Hello, the photo below is of a bronze Dan figure in the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.



It looks very similar to the first figure in this thread. There is another figure close to both of these in a book titled ROCK OF THE ANCESTORS. So it may turn out that despite the patina, the first figure may be by the same artist. One problem I have seen in african art is that the "museum pieces" become the canon, so that even authentic items which fall short of this now established canon stylistically are deemed inauthentic--when in fact there can be quite a bit of diversity in a form both in style and quality among so called authentic art. And of course an artist's style can evolve.