Kulango Beaded Maternity Figure Cote d'Ivoire

This is an extraordinary carving, delicate and refined. Note the striations on the neck and the elaborate hairstyle. Patina of long use.

Kulango people live in central Cote d'Ivoire near Bonduku and the Bron-Ahafo region of Ghana. The Kulango today live in an area of transitions between the central African cultures of Mali and the Akan cultures of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. They came to this area from the north and as a result of contact primarily with the Asante gradually through time picked up local cultural traits so that they can have been Akanized. Kulango sculpture shares influences from neighbors to the east of them the Senufo and the Baule from the coastal area.

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