Pair of figures
Tanzania, Ngoni
not available anymore
Provenance
Alfred Zenichowski, Berlin, GermanyManfred Sackmann, Berlin, Germany
Size
H: 49/50 cm
H: 49/19.7 inch
Description
wood, reddish brown and black patina, strings with miniature glass beads, leather belt, identical formed bodies, coiffures from clay-like mass with remains of human hair, eyes with inlay, ears with drilled holes for insertion of magical loading, the female carrying a child on the back, slightly dam., abrasion of paint, rep. (both wrists of the male/left foot tip of the female figure), base;
depicting a couple of mythical or real ancestors. They were kept in the house of the clan leader or in small shrines, where they received sacrifices to keep them well-disposed.
The Ngoni cluster are mixed descendants of Zulu bands that fled from Natal around 1820 to escape from the rule of King Shaka.