Monumental 19th Century Benin Oba Warrior Bronze Sculpture! Africa

MUSEUM PERFECTION ! AZTEC INFLUENCED LATIN AMERICAN COLONIAL ART AMAZINGLY RARE PIECE ! Approx. 14" x 8" x 2 1/2" After Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec empire, painting and sculpture schools were set up within missions to produce art for Roman Catholic worship in Spanish America to promote Christian evangelization. The works that emerge from this period are great historic treasures and tell us much about this time in history. Icons were important in this conversion process. Here is an Imagene that was likely employed in a church from the 17th century. It features 5 elaborately carved faces and figures depicting angels and saints. This piece is magnificent for many reasons, but the most important reason is that this piece illustrates the bridge between the Spanish and Aztec art schools. The Aztecs had developed the most splendid feather art in the world. Feather mosaics (arte plumario in Spanish, amantecayotl in Nahuatl), were created by specially trained and talented Aztec nobles. The blue green iridescent color of hummingbird feathers had made them a regular form of tribute to Aztec rulers and art that featured these feathers were incomparable. The Spanish art instructors adopted feathers into traditional Catholic imagery and this piece shows the result of such hybrid. Here feathers are prominently sculpted into the background and were polychromed with sensational hues to reflect the native love and cultural appreciation for feather art. Few feather mosaics survive because of their temporal frailty, but the wood worked feathers in this piece give scholars and collectors a lasting indication of how Aztecs stylistically used the feathers in their pieces. Aztec religious leaders wore headdresses and garments made of feathers - and here these saints appear to be wearing feather headdresses! Even after centuries, the colors of this piece are incredibly compelling. Fragments of the rich blue green pigment that was applied to mimic the hummingbird feathers are still present. The golds, yellows and browns display spectacular understanding of complementary colors. What's more this piece also shows Aztec sun imagery incorporated into the design! On the reverse side of the Saints' faces we see a vivid blue sun burst type design which clearly was an Aztec motif of the period and has no comparable counterpart in Catholic holy treasures...

Stunning! Natural Fiber & Copper Tribal Figural Sculpture Attributed to Franz Hagenauer 21" Tall Here is a wonderful figural sculpture of a tribal female dancer with copper neck ...

MAGNIFICENT & RARE! WOMAN IN CANOE POLYCHROMED SCULPTURE AND ACCENT LAMP SIGNED S. MELANI ARNOVA DIMENSIONS: Approx. 21" Wide x 14" Tall x 6" Deep In 1925, France held the "Ex...

MAGNIFICENT HORSE HEAD PLASTER SCULPTURE! BOLD! BOLD! BOLD! SUPERB DETAILS! In the Manner of Charles Marion Russell (DIMENSIONS: Approx. 13" x 5" x 16" ) CIRCA 1960s This m...

"Bronze Statue - Ife, Nigeria" is a bronze sculpture created in circa 1920. This figure has short legs and a short torso, but a large head. They held out their hands with two objects...

Statues of Juju Man or shamans were used for ceremonies connected with religious beliefs and magical practices. The general understanding of their meaning as including a supernatural...

Antica scultura - bronzo - africana - Benin - XIX secolo Descrizione Antica Scultura in bronzo africana di una raffigurazione del Re Coronato Ife Malu, originaria del Benin del XIX ...

Early 20th Century West African Tribal Figurine in Cast Brass. Very distinct early to mid 20th century tribal figurine in cast brass from the west of Africa. Great and very typical ...