Luba Shankadi statue - Lot 121

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Lot n° 121
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40000 - 60000 EUR
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Result : 49 400EUR
Luba Shankadi statue - Lot 121
Luba Shankadi statue Democratic Republic of Congo Wood 19th century Height: 48.5 cm Provenance: William W: William W. Brill Collection, New York John and Nicole Dintenfass Collection, New York Fily Keita Collection, Los Angeles Richard Vinatier Collection, Avignon (inv. n°568) Bibliography: Catalog for the exhibition "Tribal & Textile Art XIII/2007, New York, 2007", New York, 2007 Description: Anaelle Dechaud -Wisdom, poise and dignity emanate from this effigy, embodying a sacred ideal of power, beauty and spirituality. The thick, cylindrical neck supports the half-spherical head. Framed by two circular ears, the face has tight Luba features, almond-shaped hemmed eyes, a short, blunt nose and a small, slightly raised mouth. The particularly sophisticated hairstyle is orderly, incised with eight rows of braids. The gentle roundness of the face, the finesse and delicacy of its features are contrasted with the rigorous angularity of the body, which is shaped like a perfect cylinder. The rigorous geometry is accentuated by the fluted, right-angled shoulders. The slightly bent arms are joined by hands with meticulously drawn fingers, framing the slightly swollen umbilical region. The body's ornamentation is delicately arranged: a set of finely engraved diamond-shaped scarifications runs across the abdomen; the pelvis features a double line of horizontal keloids in relief, the motif being repeated on the lower abdomen in the form of three continuous parallel lines. The lower back is marked by a row of oval keloids and a beaded line converging on the rounded buttocks. The figure rests on short but powerful bent legs with shapely calves, extended by feet whose drawn toes testify to a concern for realism. Feminine representation, predominant in Luba art Luba art, refers to the major role played by women in society, particularly in religious and political terms. As guardians of the bizila, the royal secrets and prohibitions, and occupying positions of high responsibility at court, their bodies were reputed to be powerful enough to welcome bavidye spiritual entities, with bodily ornaments facilitating communication with these otherworldly beings. The exaltation of femininity in statuary Luba asserts this sacred authority and power, both earthly and spiritual. This ideal is represented here both physically - firm, taut breasts, well-defined genitals - and symbolically - hairstyle, scarification. According to François Neyt (In Tawba, The Rising of a New Moon: A Century of Tabwa Art, Evan M. Maurer, Allen F. Robert,1985), the diamond-shaped sacrificial motifs of the neighboring Luba Tabwa statuary, similar to those covering and magnifying the abdomen here, evoked the sacred symbolism of the meeting of the moon, the continuous cycle of life and fertility. The most complex body scarification motifs are found in the Luba area and neighbouring peoples. The body envelope, a reflection of moral and spiritual qualities, shines through and through the richness of body ornaments, such as hairstyles and scarification marks, which are also intrinsically linked to notions of memory and identity. Scarifications constitute a narrative and a memory inscribed in the flesh, evolving with time and experience, offering a tangible link between past, present and future. This form of body writing encodes each individual's personal history, conveying evolving messages and meanings. Mary Nooter Roberts points out that in Luba art, the statues "faithfully reproduce the scarification patterns that were first applied to the skin during the initiation rites of young girls before marriage, and which were renewed and completed throughout a woman's life." (Memory: Luba art and the making of history, 1996) The work of an individual workshop on the shores of Lake Kisale This object belongs to a limited corpus of works held in the collections of the Africa Museum in Tervuren (inventory no. EO.0.0.3701 and EO.0.0.16658-3). From the same workshop - or even the same artist - they were collected in the Haut-Lomami region, on the shores of Lake Kisale, during a scientific mission commissioned by King Leopold commissioned by King Leopold II and led in Katanga by Charles Lemaire, between 1899 and 1905. The first specimen is stylistically very similar, with the same squared rhomboid abdominal scarification, the same facial expression and a similar multi-row headdress. The second work referenced is masculine, but also comparable in the composition of the volumes and the treatment - almost identical - of the
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