Dance club "ebongo" · D. R. Congo, Kuyu · ID: 3037483
sold
EUR 4,500
Provenance
Loudmer, Paris, 6. December 1986, Lot 252Reginald Groux, Paris, France
Leonardo Vigorelli, Bergamo, Italy
Randy Kahn, Tarzana, USA
Size
H: 67 cm
H: 26.4 inch
Description
wood, polychrome paint, flat facial features, filed teeth, scarification marks, high towering coiffure in several lobes, circular drillings backside, min. dam., cracks, small missing parts, water spots, traces of abrasion, base;
used for the so-called “kébé-kébé” snake dance, which finished the initiation of young boys.The head sculptures were attached to staffs, which the dancers held high above their heads. Their bodies were completely concealed by long costumes and the heads abundantly decorated with feathers.
Comparing literature
Kerchache, Jacques & Jean-Louis Paudrat u.a., Die Kunst des Schwarzen Afrika, Freiburg, Basel, Wien 1988, p. 579