Statue, Jukun, Nigeria

Acquis in situ par Jean-Michel Huguenin, 1970
Collection Jean-Michel Huguenin, Paris 

Datation au C14 : XVIe siècle (CIRAM 0516-0A-138X)

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En 1968, Jean-Michel Huguenin organisait dans sa galerie parisienne la première exposition célébrant la découverte de l'art Mumuye. C’est également lui qui rapporta d'un voyage organisé avec Edward Klejman en 1963-64, les premiers témoins de la statuaire Jukun. En 1970, il acquit, à la frontière du Nigeria et du Cameroun, ce témoin remarquable du « style nucléaire » développé dans la région nord de la rivière Benue (Rubin, The Arts of the Jukun Speaking Peoples of the Northern Nigeria, 1969, p. 297) - constituant l'un des plus archaïques corpus de la statuaire africaine. 

Le 21 octobre 1965, Arnold Rubin photographiait, dans le village de Gaji et dans son contexte d'origine, une statue Jukun très apparentée, disposée dans une coque en terre cuite, le corps partiellement enveloppé de tissus et la coiffe ornée d'un bandeau serti de plumes (Berns, Fardon et Littlefield Kasfir, Central Nigeria Unmasked : Arts of the Benue River Valley, 2012, p. 286). Les informations recueillies sur le terrain identifiaient l'effigie à la représentation de Ku, divinité protectrice de la communauté. D'un usage et d'une signification analogues, la statue que Jean-Michel Huguenin conserva précieusement dans sa collection témoigne d'une ancienneté prodigieuse la plaçant, au même titre que son style, dans le corpus des figures archétypales dont l'analyse au carbone 14 indique une datation entre les XV^e et XVII^e siècles (cf. Berns et Fardon, Nigeria. Arts de la vallée de la Bénoué, 2012, p. 74).

Le corpus éminemment restreint dans lequel elle s'inscrit compte, outre la statue photographiée par Rubin et aujourd'hui conservée dans une collection privée (idem, n° 36 et Berns, Fardon et Littlefield Kasfir, p. 286), celle de l'ancienne collection Marc et Denyse Ginzberg (idem, p. 288, n° E.7). Libérée de ses attributs, l'effigie impose la force de sa sculpture - magistrale dans la puissance de la tête projetée en avant dont le cylindre des oreilles accuse la profondeur et la haute coiffe, la majesté. A la prégnance de la forme s'ajoute celle de la matière (dont une plaque métallique recouvrant l’œil droit) et du décor pictural, révélant tant le talent prodigieux de son auteur, que son rôle protecteur à travers les siècles.   

Jukun figure, Nigeria

In 1968, Jean-Michel Huguenin organized the first exhibition celebrating the discovery of Mumuye art in his Paris gallery. He had earlier brought back the first Jukun sculptures from a trip organised with Edward Klejman in 1963-64. Later, in 1970, he acquired this remarkable specimen of the "nuclear style", one of the most archaic corpora in African statuary, which developed in the region north of the river Benue (Rubin, The Arts of the Jukun Speaking Peoples of the Northern Nigeria, 1969, p. 297) on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon.

On 21 October 1965 in the village of Gaji, Arnold Rubin took a photograph of a very similar Jukun figure. Set in a terracotta shell with its body partly enfolded in pieces of fabric, its coiffure adorned with a feather band, the photo shows the figure in its original context (Berns, Fardon and Littlefield Kasfir, Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley, 2012, p. 286). Information collected in the field identifies the effigy as a representation of Ku, a protective deity for the community.  Of similar use and significance, the statue preciously conserved by Jean-Michel Huguenin in his collection attests to a very great age, which places it, as does its style, in the corpus of archetypal figures, the carbon dating of which places their production between the fifteenth and the seventeenth centuries. (cf. Berns and Fardon, Nigeria. Arts de la vallée de la Bénoué, 2012, p. 74).

The very small corpus which this figure belongs to comprises, aside from the statue photographed by Rubin, now in a private collection (ibid., No. 36 and Berns, Fardon and Littlefield Kasfir, p. 286) the figure formerly in the collection of Marc and Denyse Ginzberg (ibid., p. 288, No. E.7). Freed from its attributes, the effigy offers an unconstrained view of the sheer force of its sculpture - formidable in the powerful forward thrust of the head, where the cylindrical ears mark depth and the high coiffure, majesty. The formal salience is compounded by that of the materials used (including a metallic plate over the right eye) and of the pictorial decoration, which highlights both the prodigious talent of its creator, and the effigy's protective role throughout the centuries.