A very ancient statue of a seated woman embodying a divinity, sporting an elaborate headdress of engraved braided braids and a large openwork carved crest, engraved scarification marks on the face and blossoming into a star around the umbilicus, and numerous ornaments on the neck and ankles. The great specialist in Igbo art, Herbert Cole, writes and confirms that this piece is of Igbo origin from the north-central region, and not Igala or Idoma as has sometimes been suggested. Herbert Cole also stresses the rarity of such an ancient Igbo statue, and its particularly archaic character, probably dating from the 19th century, as can be seen from its refined style, as well as the style of its stylized hairstyle, simplified and reduced to a single crest, characteristic of the oldest statues. Also, her anklets are apparently a reduced version (as they are carved here) of the large, wide, engraved copper ogba anklets worn by young women (see fig. 60 p.35 in Igbo art, Community and Cosmos). Also, this is not a representation of a queen, as some have claimed, for the Igbo had none, nor indeed a king, except in Onitsha, strongly influenced by the ancient kingdom of Benin. It is a symbolic representation of a divinity, a goddess of nature, a sculpture formerly placed and honored in a sanctuary dedicated to her, and receiving offerings there. For two other female statues of the same type (but less archaic than this one), see Cole and Aniakor, Igbo Art: Community and Cosmos, p.92, n°170 and n°171. Igbo, Nigeria, 19th century Hardwood, accidents and missing hands (old breaks), old wear and tear, very fine old oxidation of the wood, very fine sacrificial patina. Height: 98cm Provenance: Robert Duperrier, Paris Robert Duperrier, Paris Stéphane Kurc Collection, Paris Published by: Gonseth, Hainard et Kaehr, L'art c'est l'art, 2000, p.193, n°3