Bembe seated Female Power Figure with charge on her back.Bembe People, DRC.
1st half 20th Century or earlier
Wood, organic material
20,3 cm
A la dignité de la pose - la rigueur des volumes seulement animée par le tracé souple des bras filiformes - répond de dos l'abstraction saisissante du traitement, où le...
A la dignité de la pose - la rigueur des volumes seulement animée par le tracé souple des bras filiformes - répond de dos l'abstraction saisissante du traitement, où le corps s'efface devant la sophistication de la parure. Superbe maîtrise dans la gravure et l'agencement des motifs champlevés envahissant le corps, et dans la composition complexe de la coiffe majestueuse. Superbe patine d'usage, brun rouge, brillante. Maintes fois reproduite et exposée, cette statuette mukuya illustre l'un des styles les plus rares et les plus raffinés de la statuaire Bembe. Répertorié et décrit par Lehuard (1989 II : 414 : 419) comme le "type Bembe occidental", les œuvres qui lui sont rattachées portent au plus haut degré - comme ici - la vision ostentatoire de la beauté du corps en Afrique centrale.cf. Dapper (2004 : 159) pour une statuette étroitement apparentée, dans la collection du musée Dapper.
The dignity of the pose—marked by the rigor of the volumes, animated only by the supple lines of the slender arms—contrasts with the striking abstraction of the treatment from the back, where the body fades away in the sophistication of the adornment. There is superb mastery in the engraving and arrangement of the champlevé patterns that cover the body, as well as in the complex composition of the majestic headdress. The statue has a superb, usage-worn, reddish-brown patina with a brilliant finish. Frequently reproduced and exhibited, this mukuya statuette illustrates one of the rarest and most refined styles of Bembe statuary. Cataloged and described by Lehuard (1989 II: 414: 419) as the "Western Bembe type," the works associated with it represent, at the highest level—as seen here—the ostentatious vision of the beauty of the body in Central Africa. Cf. Dapper (2004: 159) for a closely related statuette in the Dapper Museum collection.
The dignity of the pose—marked by the rigor of the volumes, animated only by the supple lines of the slender arms—contrasts with the striking abstraction of the treatment from the back, where the body fades away in the sophistication of the adornment. There is superb mastery in the engraving and arrangement of the champlevé patterns that cover the body, as well as in the complex composition of the majestic headdress. The statue has a superb, usage-worn, reddish-brown patina with a brilliant finish. Frequently reproduced and exhibited, this mukuya statuette illustrates one of the rarest and most refined styles of Bembe statuary. Cataloged and described by Lehuard (1989 II: 414: 419) as the "Western Bembe type," the works associated with it represent, at the highest level—as seen here—the ostentatious vision of the beauty of the body in Central Africa. Cf. Dapper (2004: 159) for a closely related statuette in the Dapper Museum collection.
Provenance
Anonymous seller, 1984.Clayre and Jay Haft, seller 1993.
Anonymous seller, 2006.
Leslie Sacks (1952-2013), Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2006-2013.
Sold by the heirs in 2016
Catalogues
Neyt (François), "Arts traditionnels et histoire au Zaire/Traditional Arts and History of Zaire", Louvain-le-Neuve, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1981:104, fig.V.19.Lehuard (Raoul), "Art Bakongo - Les Centres de Style", Vol.II, Arnouville: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1989:417, #BW 1-6.
Maples (Amanda M.), (ed.), "African Art from the Leslie Sacks Collection: Refined Eye, Passionate Heart", Milan: Skira, 2013:102-105
Courtesy of Spectandum
Copyright The Artist