Featured Can anyone tell me about the style of this wooden Madonna? (African?)

Hi All. (I got such nice and helpful answers to an earlier question, I would like to follow up with another, thats been puzzling me.)

Can anyone share info on this wooden St Mary/Madonna? Weight 2900gr/hight 64cm.

I own several figurines and even statues, this one; I can't find any info on. If I do a reverse image search, the search often 'relates' the image to African figurine/sculptures. I would love it if you could share your knowledge. Any info is helpful; style, (possible) country, maybe someone can even tell what type of wood it is.

Thank you al in advance, all the best, take care, Robert.

 

she's lovely.....my 1st thought is Indonesian..

 

So is mine.
An unusual subject, but she looks like Indonesian Art Deco to me, either made in Bali, or in neighbouring East Java (Surabaya?).

 

I get that the item matches the style for Indonesia, but does it fit with the item being Catholic iconography?

 

It is rare, but we have seen it before, you can see one in post #71 in the Bali Art Deco thread:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/bali-art-deco-thread.30201/page-4

There are a few Catholics on Bali, but even more on Java and other islands. The island of Kei is almost entirely Catholic, for instance.
Some of the best-known Indonesian politicians were Jesuit-trained.

 

That is interesting given the very small overall Catholic population. I guess it may had been made for tourists/export too which overrides local sensibilities, and also you don't need to go back too far in time to find much less religious antagonism in the region.

 

Or commissioned by or for a priest or church. Tourists preferred the 'exotic' look.

Absolutely, extremism is a fairly recent thing, and not as widespread as some people in the West like to think. Violence against non-Muslims is usually perpetrated by extremist gangs that travel from island to island.
Bali is still Hindu with a fair amount of Shamanism thrown in, and tolerant towards other faiths.

The spirituality of my own Indonesian ancestors, and to a certain extent mine too, is Kejawen, a pre-Muslim and pre-Hindu belief that is respectful and open to any kind of spirituality.
It is still practiced on Java and even on conservative Madura, although the people who practice it are nominally Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Christian.
Belief in one God and adhering to a religion are compulsory under Indonesian law, but only certain faiths are allowed. Kejawen, with its many followers, is not one of them, hence the need for a nominal religion.
Outside and inside are very different things in present day Indonesia. As the Germans say: "die Gedanken sind frei", thoughts are free.

 

The face looks Ethiopian or Sudanese to me.

 

Hi All! To my horror, I just realized that I hadn't replied to my own thread/qeustion. Thank you all so much for your help and also sharing you knowledge and personal stories. I really hadn't thought of Indonesia. (For the reasons mentioned above and questions asked.) I really enjoyed looking into art. (I don't know if this is the places: For all Dutch/Flemish speakers: there is a really good podcast on Indonesia and its past by Belgian writer D v Reybrouck, called: 'Revolusi'. For the not-dutch speakers, it's based on the book, with the same name. It's being translated into many languages as we speak. I got into it, based on this post. Your input, book and pc taught me so much! All the best, take care, Robert.

 

That was my first thought, as well. I would suspect Ethiopian, since it does fit in with the Christian iconography. Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian nations in the world, and has a tradition of producing Christian art dating back to the 4th century.