Female commemorative figure "efomba" · D. R. Congo, Nkundu/Ngata · ID: 3042482

Name: Female commemorative figure "efomba"
SKU: 3042482
Availability: Discontinued

not available anymore

Provenance

Francis van Noten, Belgium

Size

H: 56,5 cm

H: 22.2 inch

Description

wood, brown patina, red paint and pigment, kaolin, glass beads (ear ornament), box-shaped body with open backside, painted with diamond-shaped ornaments, flat face with incised scarification marks, drilled hole (head/neck/box), slightly dam., missing parts (right hand), traces of insect caused damage, abrasion of paint, base;
among the most visually striking African art objects are the highly elongated anthropomorphic coffins of the Nkundu, a western Congolese population formerly known as the Ngata. Research from the 1950’s revealed that some of these coffiins were “efomba”, commemorative sculptures, placed on top of the deceased’s grave or kept in his or her house as a memento mori. Figures smaller in size, as the one shown here, may have fullfilled the same function.

The object Female commemorative figure “efomba” with the object ID 3042482 was last part of the auction 86th Tribal Art Auction at May 27, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 444.

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