Bangwa Commemorative Fwa, Chief, Figure

Overall: 37 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (94.6 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm)
Circa 1840 – 1880
Wood 

Provenance:
Philippe Guimiot, Brussels, late 1960s
Pierre Harter, Paris
Aaron Furman, New York, c. 1968
Hélène and Philippe Leloup, Paris
Important American Private Collection, acquired from the above 1993 

Exhibited:
Mains de Maîtres – A la Découverte des Sculpteurs d’Afrique: Espace Culturel BBL, Brussels, March 22 – June 24, 2001
Images of Power: Sculpture from the Cameroon Grassfields: Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY, April 23 – August 14, 2011.
Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, September 19, 2011 – January 29, 2012
Museum Rietberg, Zurich, February 26 – June 3, 2012.
The Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts: LACMA, February 26 – July 9, 2017 

 Published:
Harter, Pierre, “Royal Commemorative Figures in the Cameroon Grasslands: Ateu Atsa, A Bangwa Artist.” African Arts 23, No. 4 (October 1990), p. 74, plate 9.
Harter, Pierre, Arts Anciens du Cameroun. 1986, p. 334, no. XXXIV.
De Grunne, Bernard et al, Masterhands: Afrikaanse Beeldhouwers in de Kijker / Mains de Maîtres: A la Découverte des Sculpteurs d’Afrique. Brussels: Espace Culturel BBL, 2001, p. 111, no. 23
Brincard, Marie-Therese, ed., Art in Cameroon: Sculptural Designs. Purchase, NY: Neuberger Museum of Art, 2011, p. 21, no. 4
Von Lintig, Bettina, Die Bildende Kunst der BangwaWerkstatt – Traditionen und Kunstlerhandschriften. Munchen, 1994, p. 212, photo 11.
LaGamma, Alisa, Helden Afrikas: Ein neuer Blick auf die Kunst. Zurich: Rietberg Museum, 2012, p. 131, fig. 119
LaGamma, Alisa, Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, p. 131, fig. 119