Titled Lady with small figure · 

R. D. Congo, Yombe · ID: 3034951

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Description

wood, greyish brown and honey brown patina, black paint in some areas, sitting upright in an awesome posture, cross-legged, presenting the palm of the right hand, the main accent lying on the large head with mirror glass eyes, slightly dam. (ears), minor missing parts (coiffure/rep.?), crack, paint rubbed off, block-like socle;
the female depicts a titled woman of high rank, as seen by her mitre coiffure. Additionally she bears forms of physical beautification. Breast and back are decorated with elaborate scarification marks and her teeth have been ritually chipped.The whole effigy would have served as a commemorative grave figure, placed in a shrine or over the site of an important individuals burial. The interpretation however is ambiguous. As it is unclear if the small figure represents a young initiate being ritually carried by a female initiator or a child sitting on its mothers lap. In the first case it would have served in a context relating to female initiation and fertility, and was probably an emblem and representation of the head of a female initation association. In the second case it might depict the founder of a clan, the “mother of a lineage”, called “ngudi”, and was thus kept by a clan leader.

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Littérature comparée

Neyt, Francois, Fleuve Congo, Paris 2010, ill. 214 Felix, Marc L. (ed.), Kongo Kingdom Art, China 2003, p. 101 ff.

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