Drum "mbè"
Gabun/Äquatorialguinea - Rio Muni, Fang
not available anymore
Provenance
E. Döppenschmidt, Pforzheim, GermanyHubert Döppenschmidt, Pforzheim, Germany
Zemanek-Münster Würzburg, 25. September 1999, lot 391
Udo Petry, Hohnhorst, Germany
Size
H: 126 cm
H: 49.6 inch
Description
heavy wood, base in openwork design, the corpus carved with raised elongated jags, filled with delicate incised patterns, intact drum skin, fixed by plant fibre and wedged wooden pieces, slightly dam., cracks, minor missing parts, insect caused damage, traces of old age and usage;
drums from the Fang are rare !
Present piece was collected in situ between 1918 and 1921 by E. Döppenschmidt, who worked as administrator of a plantation on the island of Fernando Po. Already before World War II the drum got to Germany along with a whole collection of Fang objects.