Kabeja Figure, Hemba

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Wood, pigments, H. 23cm

Provenance:

Jacques Hautelet, Brussels and Los Angeles

Publication:

François Neyt, La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre, 1977, p. 486, Nr. 82

François Neyt, Arts traditionnels et histoire au Zaïre, 1981, p. 284, n° XIV. 19

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Selected for François Neyt’s seminal publication La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaïre of 1977, the first and most important monograph on the art of the Hemba and further prominently featured in Arts traditionnels et histoire au Zaïre, this kabeja sculpture by an artist of the Yambula stylistic region is one of the most beautiful and important of its type. The underlying concept of duality is perfectly realized, which results in a sublime harmony between the male and the female counterpart. As a kabeja figure with protective means, it was an intimate object, created by an important artist that certainly sculpted also big singiti ancestor figures.