Register Auction 104
Zemanek-Münster

Female figure

D. R. Congo, Kuyu
Price EUR 4,000
plus 27 % commission, VAT, transport and insurance
Provenance
Kempf, Antiquitäten, Munich, Germany
Size
H: 49,5 cm
H: 19.5 inch

Description

wood, pigment residues,

The figure has a four-legged creature (panther?) on its head, and a smaller figure is carved to its left side.

The Kuyu held ceremonies in honour of the snake god ‘dyo’. The French colonial administrator Poupon published various articles about this in 1918-19. The well-known marionette heads mounted on stakes appeared in the ‘kebe kebe’ dance. Poupon also reports on dances with carved figures.


Comparing literature

Anne-Marie Bénézech, "The deferred Discovery of Kuyu Art, in: Tribal Art Magazine, No 83, Spring 2017, p. 92-107

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