Jean Gabus — African Art: An Exploration of Its Functions an - Lot 173

Lot 173
Go to lot
Estimation :
40 - 70 EUR
Bid on drouot.com
Jean Gabus — African Art: An Exploration of Its Functions an - Lot 173
Jean Gabus — African Art: An Exploration of Its Functions and Dimensions GABUS (Jean). — African Art: An Exploration of Its Functions and Dimensions. Neuchâtel, À la Baconnière, [circa 1960]. Quarto, publisher’s cardboard binding with illustrated dust jacket, abundant black-and-white photographic illustrations, figures and reproductions in the text. An important study by Jean Gabus (1908–1992), a Swiss ethnologist and museologist, devoted to the traditional arts of sub-Saharan Africa and, more specifically, to their social, religious, and symbolic functions. The book goes beyond a purely aesthetic approach to “African art” to situate the objects within the societies that produced them: cosmogonies, ancestors, rituals, architecture, signs, graphic and symbolic systems, adornments, and objects of power. Several regions and cultures are covered, notably the Dogon of Mali, Dahomey, the Hoggar, and various West African traditions. Numerous photographic reproductions, some full-page or spread across two pages, depict African architecture and sites, rock engravings, sculptures, ritual objects, signs, and writing systems. One particularly interesting double-page spread is devoted to the sandal engravings of the Hoggar, while another presents the graphic system developed in Cameroon during the reign of Sultan Njoya. Jean Gabus was one of the leading figures in 20th-century Swiss ethnography and directed the Neuchâtel Museum of Ethnography for several decades. This work dates from a period when the study of African arts began to move beyond a purely Western formalist perspective to place greater emphasis on their context and function. A good copy. The interior is clean and well-preserved, with a few slight marks or isolated foxing spots. The original dust jacket is preserved, which is a plus, but it shows uniform yellowing, some rubbing, and minor wear on the top and bottom flaps and edges. The hardcover appears to be in good condition.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue