Glazed and painted wall mount of a woman
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After the First World War the 1920s and 1930s that came to be known as Art Deco also the “Jazz Age”, saw an explosion of black arts and culture. In the US the Harlem Renaissance saw a flowering of black artists in the fine and decorative arts and performing arts on an international stage that led to a shift in perception from exoticized ‘black otherness’ to modern stylised sophistication.
These decorative black female busts are typical of the stylisation of black femininity of the Art Deco period. This one is described as a painted plaster wall mount of a black woman, painted with metallic paints and glazed, her face is bronze, her headscarf and clothes golden. The face is in ¾ profile. There is a loop at the back which allows for it to be hung on the wall, and on the back is a white sticker which reads “Art Deco 1930’s”. There are some chips to the surface exposing the white plaster underneath, including on the nose and eyebrow.
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Black and white photo from exhibition, ‘Masquerading: The Art of the Notting Hill Carnival 1986-7’