The Little Warrior: An African Sculpture

Greetings Antiquers! I hope you have enjoyed your summer, and had a chance to recharge and relax.

Last spring I stumbled over this sculpture languishing in an auction storeroom. The buyer never picked it up, apparently, and the house did not know what to do with it. I know very little about African sculpture, and am generally wary of purchasing African tribal items due to the large number of forgeries and low quality tourist items, but this little warrior captivated me. So I made a laughably low offer and, to my surprise, it was accepted.

Pictures are attached, below. I have added a couple of accessories in the final photo, both for the purpose of providing scale and for your viewing pleasure. He stands almost 43" high and is beautifully balanced.

He has a sword and a scabbard across his back, along with various adornments and a complicated headdress. I assume that at one time he held a spear.

There is clear damage in places, which I have tried to picture, but there are also many small holes occurring randomly. I assume these were part of the casting or manufacturing process.

I have done a little research, on this site as well as others, so I have concluded the following:

• It is a bronze or brass sculpture. It resembles the mask posted by @cc89 in a 2021 post, "African Bronze." @2manybooks remarks here "Most African "bronzes" are actually brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, as opposed to true bronze which is an alloy of copper and tin," but I cannot tell which it is. How would I?

• @2manybooks also concludes it appears to be in the Bamum/Bamun or Bamileke style, of northeastern Cameroon. Would this be the case for mine?

Would those knowledgeable please let me know what you think, regarding composition, origin, age and artistic merit?

Thank you very much!

 

It worked!

You have already tagged 2manybooks, but for the rest of us, could you please post the link to the other thread?

 

Hurray!

But I am afraid I don't know how to, @Any Jewelry ! Do I just cut and paste? (I'd also like to know how you do the excerpts?)

 

You right click on the url in the bar at the top of the page of the thread, and then click on copy. The url is next to the lock symbol.
Then you go to this thread, and insert it in a post, like this:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/the-little-warrior-an-african-sculpture.72621/#post-4520810

What do you mean by the excerpts?

 

It would be helpful to have a couple pics of him overall...less close-up, more full length portrait...please & thank you!

 

If by "excerpts" you mean 'quoting' someone, like I've done here, just click/tap "Reply" by the person's post that you want to quote.

If that's not what you meant, my apologies.

 

That is exactly what I meant, thank you.

Here, as requested, are a few more photos.

 

And here is the link requested by @Any Jewelry : https://www.antiquers.com/threads/african-bronze.62630/

 

Definitely Grasslands Cameroon - Bamileke, Bamun, Tikar - in style. The headress is a representation of a "prestige" cap similar to this one:

https://exquisiteafricanart.com/project/bamileke-ashetu-title-holders-hat/

And the sword and scabbard are also prestige accoutrements:

https://ertribal.com/index.php/trib...bard-bamum-bamileke-tikar-cameroon-grasslands

So he is meant to represent a high status individual.

His size is unusual. You might try sending an inquiry and your photos to this gallery, which had an exhibition of African bronzes in 2000, including a number of large scale castings from Cameroon:
http://www.galerie-herrmann.com/arts/art2/bronzen_stuttgart/indexeng.htm

My first reaction when I see things this large and dramatic is to assume it was made to attract a western buyer. But I may be mistaken. There is a tradition of large scale commemorative sculptures in this region (more often in wood), so there is a chance it may be something significant. Certainly, he is a fine example of the metalworker's skill.

As to distinguishing brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) vs bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), you would most likely need a metallurgical analysis requiring a sample. It really does not make a big difference. Most of the metal used for such castings was recycled from imported objects (rather than being made directly from ores in Africa), so the composition can be quite variable. People just think "bronze" sounds better than "brass".

 

It generally doesn't when it comes to non-Western metals. Bronze is an alloy of the Western culture (European derived), consisting of certain percentages of copper and tin, as specified in the Western world.
We are particular about brass v bronze, other cultures are particular about other things.

 

Thank you, @2manybooks . I very much appreciate your reply, the pictures and the suggestion. As I said, I was captivated by the sculpture, which is why I bought it. I continue to be amazed by the detail of the hands and nails.

I have a few--very few--other African items, mostly jewelry, which I collect. I would very much like to share them with you and whomever else is interested.

 

Happy to take a look, as will others here.

Nice rug, by the way.