Figural pipe · Angola, Ovimbundu · ID: 3041477
sold
EUR 4,000
Provenance
William Edward & Annie Fay, Congregationalist missionaries in Portuguese West Africa from 1882 to 1907Size
H: 20,5 cm
H: 8.1 inch
Description
wood, light brown and blackish brown patina, in shape of a sitting female figure with a narrow compressed body, consisting of two pieces: the proportionally large head removable, metal sheet coating inside, drilled hole at height of the stomach, slightly dam. (base), crack, abrasion of paint;
the Ovimbundus homeland is centered on the Benguela Plateau, bordering to the east on Chokwe land. Their art works are heavyly influenced by these neighbours. Masks are not known but their sculptures are mainly known by their pipes and staffs with female heads or figures which depict “nana yakoma”, the guardian of the holy fire - sacred objects of the old Ovimbundu chiefs.