Head sculpture

Description

wood, shiny middle brown patina, pokerwork, a columnar neck supporting a narrow face with pronounced back of the head, min. dam., fissures, minor missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, on wooden base;
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.