Standing male figure · D. R. Congo, Mangbetu · ID: 3033214
Description
ivory, partly shiny patina, static pose, tribe-typical head, rep. (right arm), min. dam., minor missing parts (toes), fissures through age;
the Mangbetu live in the northeastern Zaire, bordering the Sudan and the Zentral African Republic. They mainly produce articles of daily use or ritual objects. Figures of the Mangbetu are rare. They appear individual or in pairs and can be looked upon as representations of ancestors. The shape of the deformed head reflects the practice to bandage the childrens heads to achieve the prominent back of the head, which corresponds to the current ideal of beauty the Mangbetu aristocracy always had.
The object Standing male figure with the object ID 3033214 was part of the auction 70th tribal art auction on September 8, 2012. The object with the lot number 438 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,400 with an asking price of EUR 1,500.
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