A FEMALE KOM THRONE FRAGMENT ATTRIBUTED TO KING 'FON' FON YU (1830 - 1912)

Estimated Value:

20.000 € - 30.000 €

Result:

20.720 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

Western Cameroon Grassland, Kom Kingdom
H. 118,5 cm (o.S.)
Fragment of a standing female figure holding a bottle in front of her body. The torso originally surmounted a stool carved with leopard piercing. This throne figure was part of a group of female and male ancestral representatives of a royal family of the Kom kingdom, an "Afa-a-Kom" group, usually consisting of 5-6 figures. The figures were covered with rich pearl ornaments and were only exhibited on certain occasions. This figure is one of the rare pieces in the field of tribal art that can be documented until the early 20th century and can be attributed to one carver. In 1984, Tamara Northern dedicated an article to these throne figures and their tradition in her book "The Art of Cameroon" and published this figure, along with a photo of the complete manufact, which was only completed at that time, together with its carver, the then King 'Fon' Fon Yu. King Fon Yu (1830 - 1912) reigned from about 1865 - 1912. Before taking office, he spent two years in exile in a neighbouring kingdom, where he learned to carve. The photo was taken by the German colonial official Adolf Diehl ca. 1905-10. In this state, the figure was still undecorated. Today, the figure no longer has any beaded decoration, which can certainly be attributed to its corroded and fragmentary condition.
Important Bavarian Private Collection, purchased from the collection Baron Freddy Rolin (1919-2001), sale of his collection, Christie's Amsterdam, 2. 7. 2002, Lot 223
Published:
Tamara Norther "The Art of Cameroon", Smithsonian Institution, 1984, p. 97, No. 20
Tamara Northern writes as follows in her book: 'The Afo-A-Kom is regarded in Kom as Fon Yu's own effigy, commemorating his reign and representing him as an ancestor for the generations to come. Five other figures that complete the sculptural ensemble around the central royal figure are attributed to Fon Yu and his studio: the female figure with royal hair dress and staff (said to represent his titled wife), a second female figure, also with royal hair dress and clasping her hands in the customary gesture of respect (said to represent the queen mother), a child figure and two palace servants. My interpretation suggests that the female figure with the staff represents the Queen Mother and the second female figure the titled wife, as the deference symbolised by the handshake gesture is not so much appropriate to the status of Queen Mother as to that of wife. The ensemble symbolically restores and recalls the primary values of the Kom universe - the royal family and, beyond that, the system of title bearing and allegiance, as well as the belief in fertility as a central factor in the continued prosperity of the kingdom. The now fragmentary sculpture in the Rolin collection (the third female figure) is part of this ensemble and is probably identical to the child figure, although its iconographic attributes such as royal hairstyle, calabash and stool seem to indicate the status of a titled royal wife. If "child" in this context is understood as a reference to the next generation, the figure can be interpreted as that of a young princess, and the calabash then symbolises the status of a future wife. Among the elders of Kom who dared to speak out, some claimed that Fon Yu worked as a carver intermittently throughout his reign; others saw carving as a major occupation during his old age and a means of gaining prestige alongside his fame as king, which greatly increased the commonwealth of Kom. This would suit his reputation as a dynamic, enterprising, ambitious and perhaps restless personality.
Fon Yu was photographed twice in the sculptor's pose by the German colonial official Adolf Diehl, who travelled in Kom from about 1905 (Fon Yu died in 1912). Each photograph shows Fon Yu with a sculpture. One is the titled female figure of the Laikom Afo-A-Kom group, the other is the female figure of the Rolin collection. Both are still to be seen without beads. Additional information gathered by Paul Nkwi supplements this photographic documentation. Nkwi learned from Bobe Johnny Ngong, a young, adolescent palace official under the late reign of Fon Yu and the three succeeding Fons, that he had been commissioned by Fon Yu to purchase the beads for the Afo-A-Kom ensemble from various dealers in and around the Grassfields (probably Nigeria). According to Bobe Ngong, the bead carving was then carried out under the supervision of Fon Yu, who is said to have shown the figures to his people after they were completed. This suggests that the carving work on the figures was completed shortly before Diehl took them. Although it is not clear from this context that the entire ensemble of six figures was beaded, and that the lack of beads on the fragment of the third female figure (Rolin Collection) is a consequence of its fragmentary state, it is not clear that the figures were carved by Diehl. Bobe Ngong also explained that the practice of displaying the ensemble at the annual celebration (Dance of the Fon) developed during the reign of the succeeding Fons. Looking at the evidence as a whole, the first decade of this century emerges as the period of origin of the Afo-A-Kom ensemble and Fon Yu as its carver. However, there is a dissenting opinion, which is also confirmed by Nkwi. Prince Francis Ngam, son of Fon Yu's successor, Fon Ngam (1912-26), believes that the Afo-A-Kom and the two female beaded figures were carved during the reign of Fon Tufoyn (fifth king, 1840-55) and beaded by the then young Princes Yu and Ngam. However, the evidence in Diehl's photograph does not support this opinion. The two older pairs of male and female commemorative figures, whose iconography and style fully correspond to that of the Afo-A-Kom group, were not mentioned in Kom. They were collected during the first years of the German colonial administration in 1904 and 1905. These dates are striking in that they coincide with the period most plausible for the production of the Afo-A-Kom ensemble and suggest the possibility that the abrupt departure of the two earlier pairs triggered a surge of carving activity to fill their void'.

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