Featured I bought a cast bronze porcupine, time to find out what I have.

I bought this porcupine at auction, nobody was bidding on him then the auctioneer lowered the start bid to $10 so I bought it. It weighs over 3 pounds, it's made of solid bronze, and measures 11" in total length. I believe it's African. What can you tell me about my porcupine? Thanks for looking.

 

african crested porcupine

u sure that's the guy?

 

No idea who the artist was, but it's possible he/she used a couple of avocados (or other similar fruit / vegetable) to cast the body and stuck twigs in for the feet. The texture of the head may be that of a certain variety of small coconut, not sure.

 

Yes, a stylized porcupine.

 

Here is a very similar bronze, described as Edo/Benin, from Nigeria.

https://www.artblackburn.com/african/p/edo-bronze-porcupine

They do not include a photo of the bottom of the casting, so I can't say if the hollow construction is the same as yours.

Authenticating Edo/Benin bronzes can be difficult, as reproductions are not unknown. You might try contacting the Blackburn Gallery and send photos for their opinion.

 

Thank you for this info, I will contact them.

 

God, I love this beast… thanks for sharing!

 

stylized is right!
cuz the tail of this critter is the business end.....and your guys tail looks....well....not business !!

 

Reminds me of a boot scraper, however, the width of the stance would seem problematic. I like the look.

 

I have some Benin pieces, bought by my grandparents on the Gold Coast, pre WW!. This does have that look. It's the faces.

 

I don't know anything about him other than I really like it.

 

$10!

 

Fine piece,but I want to know more abt O'Bears Grandparents.Were they perhaps Missionaries ? The Missionary movement produced some of the greatest art acquisitions of the last century.

 

No, not missionaries, far from it.

Grandfather worked as the manager on rubber farms in Liberia, then cocoa on the Gold Coast.

 

The bronze porcupines look more like the African brush tailed porcupine (with a vestigial tail) than the larger crested porcupine.

 

Pretty sure that's another coconut head too...

 

O'Bear-Gramps was pretty exotic for those days,like someone out of a Joseph Conrad novel.

 

I’d much rather have this porcupine in my house than the one in Komo’s photo!

 

He also survived, apparently, a shipwreck in WW1 caused by a U boat.