A Bembe ritual object
Fizi, Kivu province, Eastern Congo, two faces in the shape of reverse triangles carved in high relief on a slender tubular body without arms or legs, ending in a rounded base; the two faces of similar length are slightly different in the facial details: both exhibit bulging, cowrie-like eyes (without slit) in ovoid concave sockets and a grooved philtrum between the nose and the grooved toothless mouth; above the faces there is no skull but a funnel-shaped concavity in which a narrow hole seems to connect through the sculpture with the base; attached are some raffia cord and a string of small yellow glass beads ending in a small iron bell with a clapper.
ht. 5 1/4 in.
Footnotes:
Provenance: The Laure-Marie and Daniel P. Biebuyck collection, Newton, Massachusetts; Acquired by Daniel P. Biebuyck from Mr. Emiel Van Hamme in the early 1970s; Acquired by Mr. Van Hamme in situ in 1934 when he was an administrator in Fizi territory. Collected at Ngangya Lake (situated on the shores and hinterland of Lake Tanganyika) where Bembe and pre-Bembe groups are intermingled.