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Pair of EBONY (blackwood) MALE AND FEMALE MAKONDE “TREE OF LIFE” STATUES.
This pair of beautiful vintage "Family Tree of Life" statutes, male and female in theme, were hand carved from ebony by members of the Makonde people. They were purchased by a life long friend who was a merchant marine engineer during one of his many trips to Africa and beyond. I know he made several floats to Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean, as well as trips to Nigeria during the Biafran Civil War, as well as three to Vietnam.On the day that I was given these, I met him in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, and because his dufflebag was full, I personally carried these down the gangway from the cargo ship. This would have been in the early to mid-1970's, I don't remember the exact year, but I was in the army until 1971, and Michael and his family moved to New Hampshire after he became a 1st Engineer with SeaLand in the early 1980’s. These pieces took a sea voyage from Arfica to the New York harbor, then spent several decades in my home in the Finger Lakes Region of New York (up the lake from Ithaca), before being brought to Utah.Every feature of these intricant sculptures are totally stable. They do not sit perfectly flat, but I have never tried to level the bases. Normally, I lean them in a coupling position together against a corner or a wall.Both of these sculptures measure just over 24" tall, the female is slightly taller and weighes more.A similar single piece is featured on a University of Virginia museum web page, stating the following: "A modern style of sculpture made for the European export market, this piece depicts a "tree of life" motif: the members of an extended family, including past and present generations, gently supporting each other, generation after generation, around the family ancestor.”INDIVIDUAL WEIGHT:
16 lbs. 4.5 ozs. (female)
13 lbs. 3 ozs. (male)CONDITION: some age cracks; the only wood deterioration was original to the piece and was accomodated by the wood worker (see pics below). I don't think it was by coincidence that the most unique of the surrounding figure, an obviously pregnant woman, the only one facing outward is just above and inches away from an organic cavity that continues to a smaller opening in the base. I see that as “playing to a flaw.”"The 'Tree of Life' which depicts the members of an extended family, including past and present generations, gently supporting each other, generation after generation, around the family ancestor. This motif speaks to a common human ancestral heritage all that we have achieved collectively in our various civilizations has been literally built upon the backs of those who came before." from an article titled
"Makonde Carvings & African Blackwood," by the African Blackwood Conservation Project.This "couple" has been together for nearly fifty years, and I cannot sell them separately. In most of the positionings over the decades, they have been placed together.
