Lot 158: A Monumental Sherbro/Bullom Piomdo head

Sherbro or related peoples, Guinea; H: 7"

Classically rendered with aggressive features, the face with barred teeth, arresting eyes and a small beard. A hole atop the head for ritual material - once part of a monumental figure.

Comments:
In present day Sierra Leone and Guinea, the discovery of stone heads and figures, usually executed in steatite, is considered auspicious. These stone images are believed to have been made several centuries ago by the Sapi, Kissi, and Sherbro/Bullom, many of whom are ancestors of present day peoples in the area. The fact that many of the features of these images relate stylistically to ivory objects commissioned for the trade to Europe almost four hundred years ago, helps to place the objects in time and space. This example, from Guinea, is large and impressive and would have been part of a monumental figure of which only a handful are known.

Provenance:

- Zollman Collection, IND
- Gelbard collection, NY

Publication History:
Remnants of Ritual: Selections from the Gelbard collection of African Art (2003) Bourgeois & Rodolitz; Pg. 7, Fig. 16

Exhibition History:
Exhibition History: USA: "Remnants of Ritual, Selections from the Gelbard Collection of African Art":
- University Park, IL: Governors State University, February 2003
- Krannert, IL: Krannert Art Museum, 26 August-26 October, 2003
- Kansas City, MO: Belger Art Foundation/UNIVERSITY of Missouri-
Kansas City, 2004
- Park Forest, IL: Tall Grass Art Association, 2005

Price Realized: $2,000

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