Mangbetu stick DRC Wood, metal H.: 128, 5 cm.... Lot 161

Mangbetu stick DRC Wood, metal H.: 128, 5 cm. Long wooden stick, with a pointed metal end that had to be driven into the ground. The body of the object is overhung by a female anthropomorphic statuette whose curvilinear, pyrographed decoration represents body paintings based on gardenia sap. She wears a fan-shaped headdress accentuating the elongation of the skull characteristic of Mangbetu representations. In the Mangbetu culture, the elongation of the skull is considered a canon of aristocratic beauty. Women wear large headdresses in order to play on the illusion of their hair, which is encircled by a sort of basket. Object made specifically for colonial trade with obvious decorative interest. Consultant : Jean-Pierre LACOSTE