Online catalogue for the 55th tribal art auction
452 Pair of figures
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Lulua
wood, brown partly encrusted patina, a male and a female figure, each rising from slightly bent legs, supporting cylindrical trunks with broad shoulders and free carved angled arms with big hands, short necks supporting proportionally big heads with flattened chin, tribe-typical facial features and striated coiffures, dam., cracks, repaired, slight signs of abrasion, on wooden base; Lulua or Bena Lulua is a collective term for autonomous ethnical groups, settled in the south of Zaire. About 1875 chief Kalamba restrained their old religion. He ordered to destroy ritual figures and interdicted to create new ones. But the new regime didn't survive for a long time and the people reverted to their old religion. Statues of the Lulua are quite rare, but they have the same facial traits like their masks. These figures probably portay a pair of ancestors.
H: 41,5 cm resp. 42 cm
H: 16.3 inch resp. 16.5 inch
Provenance
Van Haersolte, Berlin, Germany
Price: 3800 - 5700 €
453 Sickle knife
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mangbetu
metal, ivory, a simple handle made of ivory carved with rings, supporting a sickle-shaped blade with two projections, min. dam., slight signs of usage; such sickle-knives, by the Mangbetu called "trumbash", come in the most diversified shapes. Their elaborately designed handles often make them to real objects of value.
L: 36 cm
L: 14.2 inch
Literature
W. Fischer und M. A. Zirngibl, Afrikanische Waffen, Passau 1978, p. 65 f.
Price: 600 - 900 €
454 Trumpet "namburuse"
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mangbetu
ivory, polished, the corpus of the broad ending was abraded, while the small ending was applied with a small canal and opening, the bell mouth 6 cm in diameter, stepped mouthpiece with notches, the corpus decorated with pyro-engraved, elaborate motifs, showing various scenes concerning social life and fierce conflicts, plaited band for support, slightly dam. at the lower rim
L: 42 cm
L: 16.5 inch
Provenance
Joseph Christiaens, Brussels, Belgium
Sotheby's New York
Exposed in
Mangbetu, Afrikaanse Hofkunst uit Belgische privé-verzamelingen, Brussels, October - 20 December 1992
Published in
Expo cat.: Herman Burssens, Alain Guisson, Mangbetu, Afrikaanse Hofkunst uit Belgische privé-verzamelingen, Brussels 1992, p. 82, ill. 72; Yale, GVR-Archives, Registration Nr. 0001674~01
Sold.
455 Trumpet "namburuse"
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mangbetu
ivory, polished, natural grained, discoloration in some areas, the corpus of the broad ending was abraded as thin as a piece of cardboard, the bell mouth is 11 cm in diameter, the narrow ending remained massive, diamond-shaped mouthpiece, pierced at the bottom, without any decor, slightly dam., cracks (on both sides, spread with mass), acrylic base; the ivory trumpet "namburuse" was played in the court and represented royal power and presence. Often trumpeting accompanied the king and his wife when they perfomed a dance called "mabolo". Trumpets also announced the king's movements and his victories.
L: 143 cm
L: 56.3 inch
Provenance
Joseph Christiaens, Brussels, Belgium
Literature
Ginzberg, Marc, Afrikanische Formen, Mailand 2001, p. 140
Cogdell, Jacqueline, Turn up the Volume! A Celebration of African Music, University of California 1999, p. 311
Price: 3500 - 5300 €
456 Standing ancestor figure
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mangbetu
light-weighted wood, middle brown patina, black paint, with short legs rising from a big disc-shaped base, supporting a well-rounded trunk with thin arms arranged in flat relief, a strong neck carrying a head with heart-shaped face and well-balanced features, crowned by a high towering, funnel-shaped coiffure, carved with a loin-cloth, incised patterns and coiffure accentuated by black paint, slightly dam., traces of insect caused damage; Mangbetu art in general is court-oriented, and was reserved for the ruling classes. It reflected wealth, and prestige of its owners and therefore was mainly restricted on the design of basic commodities and ritual objects. Figures are rather rare and can be looked upon as ancestor figures in general. Their style is affected by a lengthened skull, the most outstanding beauty ideal of Mangbetu aristocracy.
H: 30 cm
H: 11.8 inch
Provenance
Coll. Jordaan Alfons Costermans, Ghent, Belgium
Exposed in
Antwerp in 1925
Literature
Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, The Handbook, Brüssel 1987, p. 98
Kerchache, Jacques/Paudrat, Jean-Louis u.a., Die Kunst des Schwarzen Afrika, Freiburg/Basel/Wien 1988, p. 581
Sold.
457 Standing female figure
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mbala
wood, reddish brown patina, traces of black paint at the coiffure, with long legs rising from block-like feet, supporting a slender trunk with square shoulders, flanked by free carved thin arms with bold hands, a strong neck carrying a head with cantilevered coiffure and a heart-shaped facial plane, dominated by bean-shaped eyes inset with pupils of copper nails, incised linear tattoos below, slightly dam., minor missing parts (coiffure on the left), crack (lower part of the body), on base; the Mbala live in the Southwest of Zaire. Asides of helmet masks, they have figures called "pindi", which are usually part of a chiefs' treasure. Some are representations of drummers "limba", which are used in rites of succession of the land chiefs, but there are also maternities with children. Other anthropomorphic power objects include small male and female pairs, that "nganga" used for healing ceremonies. This very figure belonging to the latter group.
H: 41 cm
H: 16.1 inch
Provenance
Didier Claes, Brussels, Belgium
Joaquin Pecci, Brussels, Belgium
Published in
Joaquin Pecci, FEMINA, A Vision of the woman in the african and himalayan art, ill. 26
Literature
Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, The Handbook, Brüssel 1987, p. 102 f.
Dr. Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Lexikon Afrikanische Kunst und Kultur, München/Berlin 1994, p. 276
Robbins, Warren M./Ingram Nooter, Nancy, African Art in American Collections, o.O. 1989, p. 414 f., ill. 1056
Sold.
458 Two standing male figures
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mbala
wood, red and dark brown patina, simplified bodies and faces, both hands resting at, or in front of the abdomen, the heads crowned by voluminous coiffures in several lobes, slightly dam., minor missing parts
H: 21,5 und 19 cm
H: 21,5 und 7.5 inch
Literature
Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, The Handbook, Brüssel 1987, p. 102 f.
Price: 600 - 900 €
459 Figure "okifa"
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mbole
wood, dark brown patina, polychrome paint remains, without feet rising from an oval base, of rather schematized form, a slender trunk with a rectangular cavity is flanked by free worked arms, the hands resting on the hips, a strong neck supporting an oval head with a deepened heart-shaped face, crowned by a high headgear, dam., slight signs of abrasion, fissures, on wooden base; as an ethnic entity the Mbole belong to the Ngandu, counting about 150000 people. They have their homeland in the northern Democratic Republic Congo on the Lomami River and its tributaries, southwest of the town of Kisangani. Their neighbours are the Lengola and Kumu in the east, and the Yela in the west.
H: 32,5 cm
H: 12.8 inch
Provenance
Michel Gaud, Saint Tropez, France
Literature
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Lexikon Afrikanische Kunst und Kultur, München, Berlin 1994, p. 278
Sold.
460 Fragmentary figure "okifa"
This object is not available any more.
D. R. Congo, Mbole
wood, remains of polychrome paint, schematized forms of the body, thin legs supporting a slender, flattened trunk, flanked by free carved arms, crowned by an oval head with hardly recognizable facial features, dam., missing parts (right arm, right leg), insect caused damage, fissures, on wooden base
H: 44,5 cm
H: 17.5 inch
Provenance
Joseph Christiaens, Brussels, Belgium
Private Collection, Stuttgart, Germany
Literature
Dr. Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Lexikon Afrikanische Kunst und Kultur, München/Berlin 1994, p. 278
Price: 1200 - 1800 €
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