Bembe people, Democratic Republic of Congo, 1st... Lot 6

Bembe people, Democratic Republic of Congo, 1st third of the 20th century Statuette with a magic-religious function representing a standing male figure with half-bent legs and a belly decorated with carefully executed scarifications. The figure with a long beard and a rounded tip holds an object in each hand, on the right a knife and on the left a horn. The eyes are set with pieces of earthenware and there is a hole under the buttocks where the "Nganga (diviner-healer)" would have introduced the magic charge (Bilongo). Hard wood, brown-red patina, earthenware. Height: 18 cm. Provenance : Collected in-situ by Fernand OLIVEDA, Knight of the Legion of Honor and Chief Administrator of the colonies from 1888 to 1930 (Madagascar, Senegal, Congo). In 1925, he was Chief of the Secretariat of the General Governor of the Middle Congo.