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Descrizione : Yombe Maternity Figure with Twins, Democratic Republic of the Congo pfemba Wood with polished dark brown patina, brass tacks Height 10 1/4in (25.5cm) Provenance Jean Claude Lefèvre Collection, Menton, prior to 1940 Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels CIRAM Report (no. 1020-OA-512Z) confirming a late 19th/early 20th century date of origin accompanies the work. According to Wyatt MacGaffey, 'The 'maternity' figures of Mayombe and the Kongo coast are among the most seductive in African art because of the readily recognizable theme, their naturalism, and their formal perfection. The naturalism, as in the case of other coastal sculptures, is due in part to the influence of European taste and models from the 1860s on. The figures are not minkinsi [medicinal], although in at least one known instance a medicine pack was added afterwards to convert the piece from its original function. That function is obscure; in fact, the more we look into these figures the more puzzling they turn out to be. The maternity statues are called phemba, a name frequently confused with mpemba (white). The figures have often been polished to conform to collectors' ideas about what sculpture should be, but originally they were colored red with camwood paste. They were used in connection with a women's fertility cult, said to have been founded by a famous midwife; there is also reason to connect them with the Lemba cult. In Kongo iconology, red is an appropriate color for transitional conditions such as birth and death. It has been suggested that the infants in these 'maternities' are in fact dead; certainly, they are not posed as babies usually are in other sculptures, alert and riding on their mother's hips. On the other hand, some pfemba show the baby suckling.' (Verswijver, Gustaaf (ed.), Masterpieces from Central America, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Prestel-Verlag, Munich, 1996, p. 146.)
Prezzo: 25 000.00 USD 🔓Senza carta di credito.
Stima (bassa/alta) : 35000 USD-55000 USD 🔓Senza carta di credito.

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