** A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this artwork will be donated to the Anthony Quinn Foundation, whose mission is to advocate for the important role arts education plays in personal development and in the overall improvement of social, economic and cultural systems. Learn more at aqfoundation.org **

West Africa, Burkina Faso, northern Yatenga region, Mossi peoples, ca. early 20th century CE. An impressive, hand-carved wood figure of a female known as a Ninana shown standing with knees gently bent and arms to her sides. Enveloped in a rich, espresso-hued patina, the towering figure displays a slender body with an elongated torso, a projecting posterior, and lengthy arms that hang from square shoulders, flanking her drooping breasts, circular navel, and delineated genitalia. Her petite head presents an expressive visage with huge, ovoid eyes, a bulbous nose, and full lips held in a gentle smile. A mohawk known as gyonfo crowns her stylized countenance, sitting just above a pair of giant ears, each featuring a drill hole for suspending ornaments. Incised patterns intended to represent ceremonial scarification adorn her body with circles on her chest and linear designs on her face. Size: 7.5" W x 26" H (19 cm x 66 cm); 27.5" H (69.8 cm) on included custom stand.

An agricultural community, the Mossi inhabit the central plateau region of Burkina Faso and were developed in the 15th and 16th centuries when the local population intermarried with invading horsemen from northern Ghana. Those descended from the invaders, known as Nakomse, assumed political power over the original inhabitants and became the elite of Mossi society. According to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, "Figures of this sort were displayed in public at annual sacrifices honoring the ancestors and then stored in the residence of the chief's senior wife. While on view, the figures were dressed with a cloth wrapper covering the lower portions of their bodies in imitation of Mossi women's traditional dress… The use of sculpture parallels the divisions in Mossi society. Masks are employed exclusively by Tengabisi groups to propitiate and manipulate spirits for the good of the community. Figures, usually female, are reserved exclusively for the ruling elite, the Nakomse, as symbols of political power."

Published in "Anthony Quinn's Eye: A Lifetime of Creating and Collecting Art" by Donald Kuspit, Jay Parini, and Tom Roberts (Bristol, Rhode Island: Bristol House Press, 2004), page 159.

Provenance: ex-private collection of actor Anthony Quinn and his wife Katherine, Bristol, Rhode Island, USA acquired prior to 2000

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Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.

#169272

Minor loss to front of mohawk. Stable hairline fissures to back and head. Expected nicks, chips, and abrasions, commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with nice patina and liberal remains of pigments.