() Lot n° 94

Sceptre of authority presenting on the lower part a female figure, arms symbolically raised to the sky, and on the upper part a young woman, the upper part of her belly decorated with scarifications and her hands placed on her shoulders as a sign of power. Her face has a beautiful, intense and interiorized expression. The headdress is arranged in a circular bun with crossed braids at the back. Wood, copper or brass, glass beads, vegetable fibers, old brown patina Luba, Democratic Republic of Congo, early 20th century 89 x 7.7 cm Provenance : former collection of Edouard d'Orjo de Marchovelette (1901-1985), territorial administrator in the Belgian Congo from 1925 to 1952 ; Sale Art of Africa, Oceania and North America, Christie's, Paris, 10 December 2013, reproduced at n°105 of the catalogue, also visible on an old photograph from Edouard d'Orjo de Marchovelette's family archives, in which the sceptre appears held by a Luba chief