Ritual spoon, Gouro, Ivory Coast Wood with... - Lot 81 - Giquello

Lot 81
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Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
Ritual spoon, Gouro, Ivory Coast Wood with... - Lot 81 - Giquello
Ritual spoon, Gouro, Ivory Coast Wood with black sooty patina H. 32.4 cm Guro ceremonial spoon, Ivory Coast H. 12 ¾ in Provenance: - Christie's London, 4 December 1990, lot 21 - Leslie Sacks Collection, Los Angeles - Sotheby's, New York, 7 May 2016, lot 87 - Native auctions, Brussels, African art from the Leslie Sacks collection, 22 October 2016, lot 49 - Galerie Olivier Castallano - French private collection Publication: - African Art from the Leslie Sacks Collection, Refined Eye, Passionate Heart, Skira, 2013, pp. 186-187 This magnificent spoon is distinguished by its remarkable size, its pure line and its superb oozing patina. The handle, which varies in colour from black to reddish brown, has been subtly polished by the repeated handling that has marked and enriched the object over time. The end is decorated with a stylized figure that could be a bird. Although the Gouro traditionally eat with their fingers, some chiefs - followed by other dignitaries, and then by anyone who is sufficiently well off - have chosen to have ceremonial spoons carved to enhance their prestige. Joseph Eysséric, the first European to arrive in Gouro country in 1897, already mentions the existence of wooden spoons. During important meals, spoons could be given to the guests, but they did not use them to eat. This ceremonial function does not exclude, however, that some spoons could have been used in a more sacred context, for example for the ingestion of ritual food. The greasy, oozing patina of our example implies a real use and not a simple function of prestige.
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