This pair of early fetish figures, depicting a male and a female, have both been carved from the same hand. They originate from the Fipa culture, a remote culture on the far western shores of Lake Tanganyika. Fipa art is seldom seen, and there are few examples of figurative art or mask traditions from this group.
The figures have been carved in a cubist-like primitive style, standing upright with little detail given to the body profiles. Each figure has a traditional restoration with pins and wire attaching the once broken right-hand side arms to the shoulders. The surface of each figure is dark and slightly oily, with wear showing around the top of the heads where the figures would have been regularly touched and handled.
'I field collected these figures in the 1990's and they were then sold to a private collector in the UK' - Bryan Reeves
Estimated Period: First Half of 20th Century
Ex Private Collection, UK (Fred Henley Collection)
H (Excl. Custom-Made Bases): 29cm
H (Incl. Custom-Made Bases): 32cm
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