Woman’s Wrapper, Bogolanfini Mali, Bamana people First half 20th century (1930s?) Cotton (hand-spun), strip weave; painting with mud and plant dyes 149 x 73 cm Provenance Collin du Bocage Auction House, Paris, France (Drouot, September 15, 2023) Sale: Charles Ratton, 14, rue de Marignan, Paris. From the collection of Charles Ratton, Paris; purchased from F.H. Lem, July 19, 1943, Inv. No. 3156. Note: Frederick Henri Lem was a collector and dealer of African art in Paris during the 1930s. Many famous sculptures acquired by Lem while he was living in West Africa are found today in prominent US and European museum and private collections; he authored the catalogue, Sculptures Soudanaises in 1948. Lem became an advisor/curator/source for Helena Rubinstein, selling her his entire collection of African sculptures, some 40 objects, including a Senufo “rhythm pounder” figure that was later sold at the auction of her estate in 1966, Another work from Rubinstein’s collection, a Bamana female figure now in the National Museum of African Art, was collected by Lem in Mali ca 1934-1935. It is quite probable that he acquired the Bamana bogolan textiles sold to Ratton around the same time. Price on request
