Power figure

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Description

wood, bast apron, fur cape, animal horn on the parting, 3 further animal horns, filled with magical clay-like mass, the wood and all the rest of the appendages dyed with camwood powder, the eyes inset with cowrie snails, head and chin with inserted nails, slightly dam., crack, on pedestal;
the Nsapo are a small ethnical group in the southern centre of Zaire. Their diversified history is reflected in the wide variety of sometimes unrelated styles. The Nsapo have no masks, they created mother and power figures with the characteristica of outsized heads. There were a few renowned carvers among them, the “Master of Beneki” and the “Master of the sitting maternities”.

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Comparing literature

Felix, Marc L., 100 Peoples of Zaire and their Sculpture, Brüssel 1987, p. 134 Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Lexikon Afrikanische Kunst und Kultur, München, Berlin 1994, p. 305

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