Description : Standing male figure D. R. Congo, Bembe wood, brown patina, blackened in parts, holding a calabash with the left and a ceremonial knife with the right hand, the upper part of the body shows tribe-typical scarification marks, the eyes with white porcelain inlay, cavity backside, rep. (left hand), min. dam., the opening was used by the nganga to give vital force to the figure, afterwards it was filled with magical material: bilongo (medicine) or relics of an ancestor (hair, pieces of finger nails or bones) as a symbol of the power and spirit of the deceased relative. Afterwards the opening was closed by a piece of fabric or a plug. As long as the spirit stayed within the statue, it watched over his descendants and punished contempts against customs and rules. Belonging to the so-called crypto-power figures, a terminology introduced by William Fagg. H: 16 cm, (5409/025) H: 6.3 inch Provenance Christie's London, Important Tribal Art, 29 June 1983, Lot 151 Ketterer München, 145. Auktion, 14. Dezember 1989, lot 420 Published in Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Africana, München 1988, p. 164, ill. 169 GVR Archives Registration No. 0035006 Literature Lehuard, Raoul & Alain Lecomte, Sculpture Babembe, Paris 2010, p. 119, ill. 60
Price: 0.00 USDIt's free to register now to view!
Estimate (low-high) : 3500 EUR-7000 EURIt's free to register now to view!
