When I was a kid, my dad used to collect statues. They weren’t statues, really, they were busts. Busts of black people with afros. Some of them had little gold accents at the ears and neck, for jewelry.
He loved those damn tacky things so much. We had to keep them dusted and shined up. Oh yeah, they were really glossy black. And if you broke one (god forbid), they were hollow inside, and you could see the white clay or whatever they were made of.
My dad is long gone now, and so are those busts, but I am longing to start my own collection. I am not doing well finding these things at all. Thisis as close as I’ve come to finding them after many years searching. But this isn’t quite right. Because my dad’s busts were more expressive and glossy. The figures would be half turned or looking into the distance. The woman’s breasts were half or fully depicted. And like I said, they weren’t wooden like these appear to be. Unless my memory has changed the details on me.
Can anyone help me? Perhaps we can figure out what it was made of and that would help my search. Thanks.
It’s a scattershot approach, but looking for “ceramic african figures 1950s images” returns these, many of which clearly aren’t any of the above. But there are some with gold earrings and such.
Um. None of those fit. But thisone has, at least, the kind of look that I think the statues were made of. Like, if you broke them, you would find it is hollow, and the broken edges would be like a chalky white.
Lieu, I don’t remember them being depictions of real people. Just random people, I guess. They all had fros, and the women usually had large fros. These weren’t African style. These were seventies black American style.
Ha! I just went by her description, and never clicked the link. I wish I could find ones like my aunt has, as I’m pretty sure they’re exactly like what Nzinga, Seated is talking about. Solid black, maybe a foot high, a woman with an afro, but unlike the pics we both posted it shows the top of her bosom instead of stopping at the neck; the only gold is a necklace and earrings. A bit more like these: pic 1, pic 2
A little off track, but… The one that sticks in my mind was in California, maybe around 1973-4, and possibly in a pavilion at the California State Fair. It was a clenched black-power fist and forearm, perhaps five feet tall, and half-carved (vertically) out of black granite. One half was perfectly finished, and the other was just roughed out; I seem to recall that it was still in progress but being shown anyway.
And - forgive me - all I could think of then, or now, is “…and a baby’s arm holding an apple.”
Yes. The ones you have posted is thisclose to how I remember it, only I remember it a glossier finish. I will settle for this if it’s as close as I can get, because it is damn close.
I tried Etsy, no luck. And yeah, we had a velvet painting of black Jesus in my house. My dad was basically an atheist and my mom was a Christian who went to a church with pictures of a blue eyed blond Jesus all over the place, so I never understood where that black Jesus painting fit into the picture. Years later, I saw that it fit perfectly with my dad’s sense of humor.
Reckon it would.
Yeah, Merneith, that’s what ebrown posted. It’s close, but no cigar.
ETA: Wait! It just occurred to me that maybe those statues epbrown and Merneith posted USED to be glossy! Maybe my memory is a bit faded, and those ARE the statues. They sure seem close enough. I’m gonna try to cop those. They are as close as I have ever seen since I’ve been looking.
Oh! I looked at them earlier when I was on my phone, but when I sat to the pc to post I forgot to mention…
The FINISH on those is exactly how I remember. But the STYLE of those are off. While we did have some African style stuff around the house, my dad’s Shiny Black Bust collection was all in the style of the ones Merneith and epbrown posted.
I am more nostalgic for the style than the finish. As a matter of fact, I may have the finish mixed up with other statues in the house. I mean, he also had elephants and giraffes and stuff in our dining room. I was very young, and some things happened that caused us to end up losing everything in our home when I was a kid, so I am betting some of my memories are off.
So yeah, your find was sooo close because of the finish and also because I’m sure we had some stuff exactly like those in the home. But the particular busts I’m pining for are different. Thanks for trying for me. Everyone was helpful as usual.
