A beautiful old statuette of a Batéba ancestor with his right arm raised and his left arm alongside his body, in a rare and characteristic posture that must have some significance. For a statue in a similar gesture, see the one in the former Hubert Goldet collection, published in Kunst und Religion der Lobi, Meyer, 1981, no. 83, or see another in a more similar style in the former Ferrari De la Salle collection in Thila, published by Galerie B. Dulon, M. Fiéloux, 2004, no. 80. Lobi, Burkina Faso Wood, visible age-related cracks and chips, very fine oxidation of the wood, and old sacrificial and wear patina. Height: 92cm Provenance: Hélène Leloup Collection, Paris Passed on by descent