Half-Figure

Description

Iron tacks inserted into the lobes of the hairdo indicate that this sculpture was originally empowered with magical and medicinal substances. Thus charged, the figure would have been used in divination and was related to a powerful association known as Bugabo. Members specialized in healing, hunting, and fighting crime.

Provenance

(Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, before 1967, sold to René and Odette Delenne) (?-1967); René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1967-2010); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 (2010)

Half-Figure

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late 1800s–early 1900s

Accession Number

2010.457

Medium

Wood and iron

Dimensions

Overall: 20 x 6.8 x 8.5 cm (7 7/8 x 2 11/16 x 3 3/8 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

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