Female Figurine

Description

This female figurine may be a fragment of a spoon or spatula, but is not confirmed. Iconography of the human image is common in the art of Kongo-speaking peoples, however, this object’s function or purpose is unknown. The position of the arms has been interpreted as that of a bound prisoner while the positioning of the head represents a broken neck or severed head, thus identifying as a sacrificial victim.

Provenance

(René De Wolf, Brussels, BE, before 1972, sold to René and Odette Delenne) (?-1972); René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1972-2010); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 (2010)

Female Figurine

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late 1800s–early 1900s

Accession Number

2010.449

Medium

Ivory

Dimensions

Overall: 12 x 2.5 x 4.5 cm (4 3/4 x 1 x 1 3/4 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund