LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June African & Oceanic Art Auction #645  / 

48239

Bembe (Dem. Republic of Congo), Female Figure

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Ethnographic Start Price:938.00 USD Estimated At:3,750.00 - 4,500.00 USD
Bembe (Dem. Republic of Congo), Female Figure
<B>Bembe (Democratic Republic of Congo)</B></I><BR>Female Figure holding a Gourd<BR>Wood, porcelain<BR>Height: 6 ¼ inches Width: 2 3/8 inches Depth: 1 5/8 inches<BR><BR>Much Bembe wood sculpture was made to enable people to maintain contact with their ancestors. Many of these figures have the entire torso-abdomen area covered with carefully rendered raised scarification patterns. Early photographs indicate that many of the peoples in the greater Congo watershed had extraordinarily complex raised cicatrix patterns over much of the upper body, and often on the face as well, though Bembe sculptures do not reflect the latter. "When these religious sculptures have been sanctified they can be used in healing or to designate a <I>ndoki</B></I> (witch). They are believed to contain the spirit of an ancestor…The sculpture is kept by the owner who can employ its assistance when he makes communication with an ancestor, such as his father" (Bertil Söderberg in Suzanne Greub, ed. <I>Expressions of Belief. Masterpieces of African, Oceanic, and Indonesian Art from the Museum voor Volkenkunde, Rotterdam.</B></I> New York: Rizzoli, 1988). This figure has the anal orifice in which sanctifying magical materials would be placed. The proper left hand is missing, as are the lower right arm and the fronts of both feet.<BR><BR>Provenance: H. Bruce Greene II and family, Naples, Florida<BR><BR><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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