Anthropomorphic figure "iginga", before 1937
John D. Graham, (1890-1961), New York, USA
Frank Crowninshield (1872-1947), New York, USA, (1937)
Julius Carlebach (1909-1964), New York, USA (1960s)
Description
ivory, mounted on base [a work by the artist David Smith (1906-1965)]
An object from the same workshop that entered the collections of the Barnes Foundation in 1922, published by Clarke, New York 2015, p. 267, cat. 64b (see also AHDRC 0126889).
John D. Graham (1890-1961) was a prominent figure on the New York art scene in the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote as early as 1936 about the influence of African sculpture and its formal language on artists of the Western world and introduced artists such as Jackson Pollock, David Smith, Adolph Gottlieb and others to African art.
For Frank Crowninshield, Graham was able to assemble an entire collection of African sculpture, which became one of the first major private collections of African art in the United States and was featured in several exhibitions in the 1930s. The present object was shown in the exhibition “African Negro Art from the Collection Frank Crowninshield” as exhibit no. 23 at the Brooklyn Museum in New York from 20 March - 25 April 1937 (cf. photo in AHDRC under number 0025737).
Crowninshield (1872-1947) himself was editor of Vanity Fair for two decades and then an advisor to Vogue. He was an important American taste-maker. In him, Graham had found a brother in spirit. Both contributed decisively to making African artefacts accessible and known to a wider audience.
Graham also established the link between Crowninshield and his friend David Smith, who was commissioned to make plinths for the objects in the Crowninshield collection. The mounting of the Crowninshield collection probably began during the summer of 1933 and continued that fall. He chose dark, exotic woods, such as ebony, as the material.
The social and spiritual life of the Lega is governed by the “bwami” society. Within the association there are five initiation levels, or societies, which every man must pass through in order to be considered a fully initiated member of the community in the teachings and traditions of the people.
Each initiation society has its own objects and sculptures “isengo” (pl. “masengo”) that serve to convey the teachings and moral concepts of “bwami”.
These include the small “iginga” ivory figurines. They are owned by the highest initiation level of the “bwami”, the “kindi” society, and belong to members of “lutumbo lwa kindi”.
Of all the initiation objects, the Lega consider “maginga” to have the strongest innate power, and they often use bits of the material scraped from these figures to mix in a drink intended for medicinal purposes.
Expertise
Certificate of the Nature Conservation Authority, Würzburg, No. DE-WÜS230810-292Comparing literature
Clarke, Christa, African Art in the Barnes Foundation, New York 2015, p. 267, cat. 64bPublications
"African Negro Art from the Collection Frank Crowninshield", New York: Brooklyn Museum, 1937: 23AHDRC: 0025737
Exhibition
New York, USA: "African Negro Art from the Collection Frank Crowninshield", Brooklyn Museum, 20 March-25 April 1937Notices
This object is subject to CITES. Please note that it can only be sent within the European Union. At the present time export in third countries is prohibited, respectively, export licenses in third countries for objects containing or made of protected materials are only granted under stringent conditions.