Online catalogue for the 63rd tribal art auction with special part 'wunderkammer'

521 Standing female figure

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Basikasingo

wood, partly shiny, brown patina, showing tribe-typical facial features with a triangular facial plane and elongated chin, min. dam., cracks, minor missing parts, on wooden base; the Basikasingo have rites for ancestors, who have the power to cause disease and misfortune. If a mischief happened, people tried to experience the wishes of the ancestors by interpreting dreams and by soothsaying. They were kept in small shrines under the authority and guardianship of a petty chief, village headman or dominant lineage elder. Sometimes such figures were individually identified ancestors, called "bashumbu".

H: 15,5 cm
H: 6.1 inch

Provenance
Joseph Christiaens, Brussels, Belgium

Literature
Biebuyck, Daniel P., Statuary from the pre-Bembe hunters, Tervuren 1981, p. 88, ill. 56

Price: 900 - 2000 €

522 Small female figure "mukuya"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Bembe

wood, honey brown patina, blackened in parts, tribe-typical scarification marks on the body, oval head with flat chin, the eyes with porcelain inlay, pierced hole backside, min. dam., rep. (left foot), cracks, slight traces of abrasion; the opening on the back 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: 20 cm
H: 7.9 inch

Provenance
Etnografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Published in
Lehuard, Raoul, Art Bakongo, Les Centres de Style, o.O. 1989, p. 334

Literature
Gardi, Bernhard, Zaire - Masken Figuren, Museum für Völkerkunde und Schweizerisches Museum für Volkskunde, Basel 1986, ill. 17

Sold.

523 Pair of figures

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Bwaka

wood, whitened with a thick layer of kaolin, simple and crude formed bodies with square shoulders and short stump arms, the female extremely high-legged, the proportionally small heads with slanting face halves, culminating in a vertical nose ridge, the respective gender accentuated, dam., missing parts, cracks, paint rubbed off, traces of weathering, on block-like base; most of Bwaka sculptures are depictions of "seto" and "nabo", the premordial ancestor couple. A pair of figures representing these personages is found almost in every home as well as in many ceremonial areas.They vary in size from personal charms to almost life-sized figures.They are placed on an altar each day and offerings are made to avoid misfortune.

H: 56,5 cm (male); 62 cm (female)
H: 22.2 inch (male); 24.4 inch (female)

Literature
Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, The Handbook, Brüssel 1987, p. 120 f.

Price: 4500 - 9000 €

524 Cordophone "kalambete" or "kakosh"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Bwaka

light weighted wood, dark brown patina, deeply hollowed trough-shaped corpus as resonator with drilled holes running around, cutouts on both sides, crowning head as handle, dam., cracks, paint rubbed off, missing parts (original skin cover of the corpus, bow-shaped projection for tensioning the strings on top of the head)

H: 40 cm
H: 15.7 inch

Provenance
Coll. Georges Meurant, Brussels, Belgium

Literature
Brincard, Marie-Therese, Sounding Forms, African Musical Instruments, New York 1989, p. 88, ill. 6
Polfliet, Leo, Bodies of Resonance - Musical Instruments of Zaire, München 1985, p. 62

Price: 1800 - 3500 €

525 Standing female figure

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Chokwe

light brown wood, dark brown patina, rising from a conical base, the legs adorned with metal rings, metal inlays at the chest, min. dam., minor missing part backside, on metal plate; representing a mature and accomplished Chokwe woman whose body scarification marks testify that she has undergone various forms of female initiation.

H: 26 cm
H: 10.2 inch

Provenance
Alain Lecomte, Paris, France

Literature
Jordán, Manuel (ed.), Chokwe! Art and Initiation among Chokwe and Related Peoples, München, London, New York 1998, ill. 105

Price: 2200 - 4500 €

526 Lamellophone "sanza"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Chokwe

wood, metal, rectangular corpus, carved with geometrical ornaments and stylized human face, eight metal keys, min. dam., traces of usage and abrasion, on base; the length of the keys determines the different pitches. While playing, the sanza is held in both hands and the two thumbs, sometimes even the forefinger are plucking the strings.

H: 25 cm; B: 11,5 cm
H: 9.8 inch; B: 4.5 inch

Provenance
Peter Loebarth, Hameln, Germany

Literature
Ginzberg, Marc, Afrikanische Formen, Mailand 2001, p. 136

Price: 1300 - 2500 €

527 Tobacco container

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Chokwe

wood, shiny dark brown patina, in form of a standing female figure, both sides of the body decorated with scarifications, strings of glassbeads around neck and hips, crowned by a coiffure with long neck plait and funnel-shaped appendage, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, on wooden base

H: 18,5 cm
H: 7.3 inch

Provenance
Private Collection, London, Great Britain

Literature
Bastin, Marie-Louise, De sculptuur van Angola, Ausst.kat., Lissabon, Antwerpen 1993, ill. 142

Sold.

528 Female ancestor figure "singiti"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Hemba

light weighted wood, blackish patina, elongated trunk with square shoulders, the area around the accentuated navel carved with raised scarification marks, both hands resting on the breasts, the wide facial plane showing slightly asymmetrical facial features, cross-shaped coiffure backside, dam., minor missing parts, on base; "singiti" ancestor figures are a symbolic link between past generations and current clan leaders, whose families are entrusted with their ownership and care. They were kept in special ceremonial huts, were they were venerated with prayer and sacrifices. Coiffure and scarification marks are proving the figure to be a female dignitary. The eyes with lowered lids are referring to the realm of the ancestors, to the world of the death.

H: 64 cm
H: 25.2 inch

Provenance
Mon Steyaert, Brussels, Belgium
R. Vervoort, Diest, Belgium

GVR Archives Registration No.
0124884

Literature
Agthe, Johanna, Luba Hemba, Werke unbekannter Meister, Frankfurt am Main 1983, ill. 11 f.

Price: 8000 - 15000 €

529 Male ancestor figure "singiti"

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D. R. Congo, Hemba

wood, blackish brown patina, encrusted with clay, a powerful and masculine appearance: firm stand, the shoulders extremely broad, a muscular breast, the distinctive face with prominent bearded chin showing a settled, but at the same time strong-willed facial expression, unusual styling of the coiffure, slightly dam., crack (base), old place of repair (right forearm); "singiti" figures depict important persons, such as war lords, clan founders or local chiefs. They provide a literal and symbolic link between past generations and current clan leaders, whose families are entrusted with their ownership and care. They were kept in special ceremonial huts, where they received sacrifices and prayers.

H: 40,5 cm
H: 15.9 inch

Provenance
Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany
Wolfgang Nerlich, Munich, Germany

Literature
Neyt, Francois, Approche des Arts Hemba, Villiers-le-Bel 1975, ill. 25

Price: 4500 - 9000 €

530 Standing female figure "mvunzi"

This object is not available any more.

D. R. Congo, Holo

wood, middle brown patina, blackened in parts, both hands grasping the chin, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion, on wooden base

H: 22 cm
H: 8.7 inch

Provenance
Bernd Muhlack, Kiel, Germany

Literature
Neyt, Francois, Die Kunst der Holo, München 1982, p. 61, ill. 18

Sold.