Featured A cool find at the Tulsa gun show.

Last year I took a long drive out to Tulsa to see the worlds largest gun show.
19 acres under one roof. Takes 3 full days to cover it. The wife and I have collected African art for the last 20 years. We don't seem to come across a lot to bring home anymore as we have become a bit picky.
I have never been good at judging age on the pieces , we just collect what catches our eye and seems to be well carved or nicely adorned.
This piece is a Baule Monkey Figure and stands at about 31 inches in height.
Lots of encrustation built up , but I am still unsure if it is actual used piece or a piece made for tourist trade. It is done well and has a great look and some major heft to it.
It was a long walk back to the truck with it , but well worth it.
Anyway , all opinions are appreciated.
I have a lot of pieces that I have often wondered the age of or possibility of actual use. I just go into it assuming all pieces are tourist pieces and maybe I will get a lucky surprise and have a few great old pieces. Maybe I can show some and get opinions if the fine folks here don't mind.
This is a picture of it outside the truck just after walking it from one end of the massive show to the other and then across the massive parking lot.
Thanks for having a look.
Kevin.

 

Hi and WELCOME to the Forums, Kevin!!! Sorry, but I couldn't tell you if your primate was carved yesterday and aged, or done a few hundred years ago, but I think others might want to see the front and the bottom of it!
Others 'in the know' will be along eventually, as members are on here from literally around the world, so it's kind of a 24 hour site!!! Have fun and don't hesitate to post all you want!!!

 

Thank you Aquitane.
I will have to get some pics of it in the morning. My camera in my phone would do a terrible job of night time/evening pictures.

 

Well, 1st off..." buy it where it's not supposed to be" comes to mind.....but that doesn't always mean a diamond in the rough.
From the title ....& in the Forum...I was expecting to see a little big horn dug up rifle.........
I know enough about African art to make me dangerous....which in and of itself is not a good thing.....

Does it have a penis ?
From the look I'm not seeing a patina that goes back further than the 80's or 90's ...& the older monkey figures....that one can find on line are mostly standing or seated on a log....

Monkeys, known as Mbra and sometimes referred to as Gbekre by the Baule, are considered as power figures used in many rituals. One ritual is a trance divination, where the spirit of Mbra assists the diviner in his effort to convey messages from the spirits of other world to the living, in order to solve a problem during a consultation. This is the one rare occasion where an Mbra can be seen to everybody.


When not in use, the Mbra would be displayed on a shrine. Monkey figures are considered too powerful for women to see, and are kept hidden in the bush where they are fed with sacrificial offerings. The encrusted patina is from sacrificial offerings and ritual libations poured over the figure.





The bowl was used as a container for magic elements. Some large, even sinister-looking, full-sized versions are thought to be carved by blacksmiths and used as guardians of special places or even entire villages. They usually have bared teeth and are also heavily encrusted with sacrificial offerings.

 

This one is well endowed. I will get some better pictures of him tomorrow in the light. Is the penis a identifier of a tourist piece?

 

No.
I just couldn't see it.
But old or new it should have one.

 

Here are a few more pictures as promised.

 

I'm still inclined to to hold to my 1st opinions.
I'd expect the base to be darker and show more wear if it was pre 1980's...
Still, it's very nice.

 

Pretty much figured as such. He has a home here though amongst the rest of the misfits.

 

here's the patina and elegance you'd be looking for in an older work....

 

That is a stunning piece. Heavily encrusted. The face is very refined.
Is it part of your collection?

 

So glad it wasn't a gun

 

sorry to say no...but I recognize it as what to look for..