Bete Standing Figure Wood Côte d'Ivoire

Overall Condition: Good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.   Small splits, scrapes and cracks are a normal part of their patina attesting to their age and extensive use.  We examine each piece carefully when we receive it and report any damage we find in our listings.  Please look carefully at the pictures which may also reveal condition and damage.

Damage/Repair: Split through backside of head and hip

Today the Bete people of the Ivory-Coast live along the Sassandra River in large villages organized according to family lineages. Like neighboring peoples such as the We or the Dan, the Bete carve and use figures of extraordinary form and inventiveness to represent important chiefs and honored ancestors during funerary ceremonies when they were presented to the village as part of a procession. This is a small carved figure with scarification pattern on cheeks (which could Bete signiture on this figure). Its calm expression and its standing position reflect the figure represented a person of some importance, a leader, a social elite or priest. This Bete figure shows stylistic input from neighboring peoples such as the Baule.