33
34
CROUCHING FIGURE Sierra Leone, Mahen Yafe style Stone H. 18.8 cm. Lecesne gift 1902 (illus. page 73)
TWO HEADS Guinea, undetermined style Stone H. 9 cm. G. Waterlot expedition 1935 (illus. page 74) AFRICAN artists rarely worked in stone—virtually everywhere their preferred medium was wood. Exceptionally, in Guinea and Sierra Leone they worked in steatite, or soapstone, using the same kinds of tools commonly used elsewhere for woodcarving. Steatite is softer than hard woods and much easier to carve than ivory. Even when it was complete, this was a very small sculpture. It is hard now to guess what the original subject was; perhaps the large-headed figure stood behind a much smaller figure, its arms embracing the small head. In style it is equally elusive; the closest parallels are works in wood from the Dan and Mende area. The Waterlot expedition collected numerous stone sculptures in a variety of styles, but the only information they recorded about this piece is that it was acquired in Guinea. Its rosy color and the delicacy of the carving make it very appealing.
THERE is a whole constellation of stone sculpture styles through Guinea and Sierra Leone known in the literature by the names of the ethnic groups who inhabit the area today. These peoples acknowledge, however, that they did not make the stone figures and heads they accidentally encounter while farming. I therefore propose the use of other names to distinguish these styles—at least until further research can establish their authorship. Since each people uses a different name for the stones they find, we might provisionally use those names to designate styles. For example, large heads found in the Sherbro area are called "Mahen Yafe," "discovered spirits" in the Sherbro language. They have a distinctive style some of whose features appear in this figure. Unparalleled in the crouching posture, the fleshy, modeled limbs, and the naturalism of the face, this figure does not fall into any of the usual categories. Its head, however, resembles the Mahen Yafe heads, which, like it, often have large, heavy-lidded eyes, rounded cheeks, and receding chins, and often wear earrings of this type. The plain turban is another feature sometimes seen on the heads but rarely in other kinds of stone sculpture from the area. As a sculpture, this small masterpiece parts company with much African art. The artist has introduced a torsion of the body and an asymmetry in the composition that are unusual. Equally exceptional is the naturalistic rendering of flesh and muscle in the flexed legs, the arms, and the back. The rippling volumes recall Rodin's phrase that "sculpture is the art of the hollow and the lump."
132 COPYRIGHT PROTECTED