About the lot N° 69
Title : A Rare Central African, Zela, Seated Female Figure
Size : height 22in. 56cmLiterature : Felix 1987: 205, figure 205Notes : Closely related to the Luba, the Zela share some of their artistic forms such as this bowl-bearer. According to Roberts, 'bowl figures are owned by both chiefs and diviners to honor and remember the critical role played by the first mythical diviner... Rulers keep them at their doors filled with a sacred white chalk associated with purity, renewal and the spirit world. Usually, however, these figures are the prerogative of royal diviners...who use them as oracles, and as receptacles for their possessing spirit's wife.' The female figures who hold the bowls bear the marks of civilization such as scarifications and elegant coiffures (Roberts and Roberts 1996: 70). See (ibid.: catalogue number 22 and passim) for related Luba bowl-bearers.Sotheby's, auctioneer, New York, US
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Sale title : African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art
Sale date : 14 May 2004
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Sale Reference : Live Sale