Sobre el lote Lote N° 49
Título : SONGYE MALE POWER FIGURE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Procedencia : Collected in situ by Joseph Christiaens junior, early 1970sChristiaens Family Collection, BrugesJacques Blanckaert, Brussels, acquired from the aboveHélène and Philippe Leloup, Paris and New York, acquired from the aboveRobert Rubin, New York, acquired from the above on January 27, 1987
Literature : Roger H. Marijnissen, Cent chefs-d'oeuvre du musée ethnographique d'Anvers et de collections particulières, Antwerp, 1975, p. 66, no. 96Philippe Guimiot and Lucien Van de Velde, Oerkunsten van zwart Afrika/Arts Premiers d'Afrique Noire, Brussels, 1977, p. 149, no. 106François Neyt, Arts traditionnels et histoire au Zaïre : cultures forestières et royaumes de la savane, Brussels, 1981, pp. 264-265, fig. XIV.6William Rubin (ed.), "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, vol I, p. 159Martha G. Anderson and Christine Mullen Kreamer, Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, New York, 1989, p. 121, cat. 80 and front cover Anthony Shelton (ed.), Fetishism: Visualising Power and Desire, London, 1995, p. 45, pl. 13Alisa Lagamma, Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination, New York, 2000, p. 67, cat. 43François Neyt, Songye: la redoutable statuaire songye d'Afrique centrale, Anvers, 2004, p. 145, fig. 109Constantijn Petridis, Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Luba/Songye/Chokwe/Luluwa, 2008, p. 83, cat. 56
Notas : The Songye power figure from the Rubin Collection is an exceptional example of its type. The refined wooden sculpture is almost completely hidden behind a "second skin" of copper nails. The deep eye sockets and open mouth give the figure a sense of sublime power and otherwordly magic.
Songye power figures (nkisi; pl. mankishi) of the scale of the Rubin figure were personal devices with numerous possible applications. According to Petridis (2008: 82 with reference to Allan Merriam), most personally owned mankishi "were meant to preserve women's fertility. They also protected against sorcerers, guarded the home against lightning, or ensured good harvests. [...] These small mankishi also showed a striking diversity in expression and craftsmanship [...]." And with reference specifically to the Rubin Songye Power Figure, Petridis continues (loc. cit., text to cat. 56): "The explicit rendering of genitalia may suggest the desired gender of a couple's first child [...]."
Widely published and exhibited, the Rubin Songye is one of the icons of African art.
Sotheby's, subastador, New York, US
🔓Sin tarjeta de crédito.
Título de venta : The Robert Rubin Collection of African Art
Fecha de la venta : 13/05/2011
🔓Sin tarjeta de crédito.
Referencia de la subasta : Live Sale
