The "Songye", great creators of masks and fetishes of a marked magical character, sculpt their works, disturbing and terrible, in an expressionist style with marked cubist forms. 

Prestigious and powerful standing female statue holding the seat like a caryatid. Vast forehead, eyes framed by large ciliary arches. Triangular nose, large rectangular half-open mouth showing the teeth, powerful prominent chin and ringed neck. The robustness of the body derives from its supporting function. 

The heaviness of the chest with its conical breasts, the quality of the numerous lozenge scarifications, the strength of the lower limbs strongly attached to the base and the large crushed feet which merge with the socket, give this work a very morphological conception. The geometry of the long arms, which fit into the empty space of the table in a symbolic gesture that also conveys its vitality and strength, contributes to the elegance that emanates from this sculpture. An important study in African art. 

With a superb caramel patina that shows its intensive use. 

Provenance : 

• French Collection, 
• Philippe Ratton and Daniel Hourde Collection in Paris, 2005. 
• Raquel Montagut, 2007. 
• Richard Vinatier.