一件陶土雕塑 - Bankoni - 巴马纳 - 馬里 (沒有保留價)

Terracotta Sculpture, Bankoni Style

Mali, Southern Niger Region
Terracotta

The towering terracotta sculpture rises from a broad, slightly curved base to an exceptionally slender, column-like body. Ring-shaped ridges articulate the lower section and the transition to the long neck. Above this, the composition condenses into a complex structure of sculptural forms: human-like heads or fragments of figures, bud-like projections, and organically intertwined volumes appear to interlock. The light, porous surface with reddish inclusions retains the graininess of the fired clay. The tension between the strict verticality and the dynamic crowning element lends the work an almost architectural monumentality.

The attribution to the Bankoni style refers to an archaeological terracotta tradition in Mali, named after a site near Bamako. The term now refers to a larger group of figurative works characterized primarily by elongated proportions and highly stylized body forms; these works are predominantly dated to the 11th–16th centuries.

However, a direct equation of these archaeological works with historically more recent Bamana art should be approached with caution. While the area of distribution lies partly in regions now inhabited by Bamana people, the identity and ritual function of the original makers often remain unclear. The unusual multi-part structure of the present piece suggests a ceremonial or symbolic context, although its original meaning cannot be definitively deduced from its form alone.

Literature (selection):
Hélène Leloup: Terres cuites de la boucle du Niger et alentour. 1986.
Alisa LaGamma (ed.): Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara. New York 2020.
Bernard de Grunne / Kristina Van Dyke: Mande: Ancient Treasures. 2016.

Some of the information is generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history.

Inv. No. MAZ22511

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Legal Framework

Under the 1970 UNESCO Convention in combination with the Kulturgutschutz Gesetz (KGSG) any claim for the restitution of cultural property becomes time-barred three years after the competent authorities of the State of origin obtain knowledge of the object’s location and the identity of its possessor.
All bronzes and terracotta items offered have been publicly exhibited in Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery since 2001. Organisations such as DIGITAL BENIN and academic institutions such as the Technical University of Berlin, which have been intensively involved in restitution-reseaches (translocation-project) over the past seven years, are aware of our work, have inspected large parts of our collection and have visited us in our dependance in Lomé, Togo, among other places, to learn about the international Art trade on site. Furthermore, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Abuja, Nigeria, has been informed about our collection. In no case in the past have there been restitution claims against private institutions such as the Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery
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