Full Description
This book is put together like a jewel and contains a carefully chosen selection of around 100 West African combs from one of the world's largest and finest private collections of sub-Saharan African art. Featuring a hitherto unseen assortment of pieces assembled over a period of more than 60 years, the book also includes an authoritative analysis by Alain-Michel Boyer, who approached this rarely addressed theme in what was his final work, begun almost ten years ago.
As well as offering us valuable insights into the cultures that produced these miniature sculptures (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria), he explores the way the form itself is approached. These creations transform what is in principle a plain accessory and in the effort to attain pure beauty, they display an aesthetic awareness that raises the adornment of the body to the level of fine art.
Contents
Foreword
François Neyt
Introduction: From Ordinary Combs to the Ornamental Combs of West Africa
Valentine Plisnier and Najwa Borro
Hair Ornaments: Exalted Presences
Alain-Michel Boyer
Introduction: An Art of the Conspicuous
The Hair
Metamorphoses: From Comb to Artwork
The Art of Pomp for Men and Women
Sensually Experienced Form: Materials and Patina
An Unsung Art, a Vanished Art
At the Origins: The Creators
A Contrapuntal Art
Levitating Beings
Faces in Space: Single Heads Facing Each Other
Real Hairstyles, Carved Hairstyles, Dreamt Hairstyles
Scenes of Daily Life: Decorative Features
The Lure of Geometry: Towards Abstraction?
Conclusion
WEST AFRICAN COMBS
The Iconography of the Comb as A Social Marker: A Baule Music Hammer
Sarah Boukamel and Najwa Borro
Celebrating Approval: A Guro Mask
Sarah Boukamel and Najwa Borro
