Montol Couple

Professor Roy Sieber took a picture of a group of figures he described as Montol in the early 60s in Nigeria. Several were very similar to the pair on offer here. Unfortunately, I have only a Xerox of a Xerox copy of the original image; if I had a more legible image I would reproduce it here. Nevertheless the match is indisputable and so close as to argue strongly for their having been carved by a single individual, although the the sculptures themselves are distinct. These figures reportedly resided in an East Coast collection since the 1970s. Their patination and wear are identical and there is no reason to doubt that they are, if not an a actual couple, then remnants of an assemblage that were made and intended to be used side by side, most likely for a curative purpose as described by Sieber. Montol pairs are not unheard of although they account for a small proportion of positively identified works. The reasons for this rarity may be that they were rarely created or that they were frequently separated in the course of transit and sale. The female lost a foot sometime in the distant past and the male, while anatomically complete sports a dusty loin cloth which can easily be untied. About 7″ tall.

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