Beschreibung:

phemba
Wood with polished brown patina, glass eyes
Height 10 1/2in (26cm)
Provenance
Julius Carlebach, New York
Merton D. Simpson Gallery, New York (inv. no. 8367 written in white under base)
Henri Kamer, Paris/New York
Compte Simon du Chastel de la Howarderie, Brussels
Alan Steele, New York
Important New York Private Collection, acquired August 2002
Finely carved with naturalistic features, the mother sits cross legged with the baby resting in her lap, holding the baby under the head with the left hand, the right resting gently on the baby's feet; sloping shoulders frame the pointed breasts, her chest and upper back decorated with raised circular cicatrices; her head raised slightly upward with mouth open revealing carved teeth with the front missing, naturalistic nose and proportionally large crescent-form eyes inlaid with glass.