Madagascar
Wood, pigment, fiber, beads, metal, and applied adornments
Male height: 19¼ in (48.9 cm); Female height: 19 in (48.3 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France
Figural pairs representing male and female subjects are among the most culturally significant forms in Malagasy sculptural traditions, serving roles connected to ancestral veneration, ceremonial display, and the marking of social status. This pair stands in a frontal upright posture consistent with formal figural conventions across the island's highland and coastal traditions. The near-identical height of the two figures reinforces their paired identity as a compositional and conceptual unit.
The condition and elaborateness of applied materials suggest a piece intended for prolonged ceremonial use or display rather than functional daily context. The Paris provenance places the pair within the history of French colonial-era collecting from Madagascar, which brought significant numbers of figural works into European private hands during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Madagascar
Wood, pigment, fiber, beads, metal, and applied adornments
Male height: 19¼ in (48.9 cm); Female height: 19 in (48.3 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France
Figural pairs representing male and female subjects are among the most culturally significant forms in Malagasy sculptural traditions, serving roles connected to ancestral veneration, ceremonial display, and the marking of social status. This pair stands in a frontal upright posture consistent with formal figural conventions across the island's highland and coastal traditions. The near-identical height of the two figures reinforces their paired identity as a compositional and conceptual unit.
The condition and elaborateness of applied materials suggest a piece intended for prolonged ceremonial use or display rather than functional daily context. The Paris provenance places the pair within the history of French colonial-era collecting from Madagascar, which brought significant numbers of figural works into European private hands during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
