Singe mendiant Baoule Côte d'Ivoire Suite du lot précédent An important statue representing Gbekre. Standing with bent legs, the animal holds a bowl to receive the offerings associated with the agrarian ceremonies in which he is one of the most important actors. The sculpture is particularly powerful ; the sagittal crest of the cranium seeming to form a helmet. The face is thrust forward, its mouth open wide to reveal bared teeth. Its half-closed eyes are set deep in the skull, the eyebrows carved in relief ; the circular ears are ornamented with a small tragus and the long nose is straight. Its curvilinear limbs are muscular ; the hands and feet at their extremities, tapered. The ape has a loin-cloth wrapped around its waist. There is a thick sacrificial crust on the surface of residue left by offerings ; traces of diverse items are to be found : chicken blood, fragments of egg shells, etc. On the muzzle and in the bowl are remains from sacrificial meals. This statue of Gbekre is probably one of the most impressive known today. Particularly remarkable is the sculpting of the head and the expression in the eyes, as well as the exceptional sacrificial patina. The strength of the jaws evokes the doglike snout of apes like the baboon whose aggressive aspect has always fueled the imagination and the fantasies of bush legends, where it was both feared for the crimes it was supposed to commit (murders and rapes) and respected for its power and intelligence. The absence of a tail in this species accentuates the anthropomorphism of the sculpture : it is hard to know if this is an ape man or a man wearing a ape mask. Compare with the monkey in the former Herbert and Nancy Baker Collection, sale Loudmer, Paris, Drouot, 28 june 1990, n° 46. Refer to Corps sculptés, corps parés, corps masqués, chefs d'oeuvre de la Côte d'Ivoire, Paris, 1989, see no. 52, p.75 and the accompanying description : " Kept in a hut on the outskirts of the village, in a place devoted to the Amu, this statue was supposed to embody the powerful animal that devastates the crops and conversely wards off the evil spirits, i.e., protects the village. In very specific circumstances such as the early days of the waxing moon or the sowing period, the seer who presided over this worship would place on the Gbekré's head and in the bowl he holds eggs, blood, chicken and beef meet, pieces of yam, wine and kola porridge which all account for the beautiful crusty patina which covers these statues." See also in Susan Mullin Vogel, African Art Western Eyes, New York, Yale University, 1997, pp. 41, 224, 225 and 235, several monkey statues covered with sacrificial patina. 250000 / 320000 €