Featured Curious African Artefacts

Thank you all so much for the help!!

@2manybooks It does look very like an 'ofika' statue and im totally creeped out now.. It has a dark energy for sure and maybe explains some strange happenings since I brought it home

@ KSW cheers! can find them here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/sp?_encodi...tocol=current&seller=A18F2BXTGVKXA9&sshmPath=

 

Here's another couple of items I got from the same auction and may have came from the same collector. I believe that the shield is a 'moluccas shield' from Seram or Beru Island but not sure. Was listed as 'moluccas shield from Indonesia'. The spear was listed as 'rennel island barbed spear' but I haven't found any similar examples

 

@Taupou may be able to tell you more about the South Pacific objects.

 

so, indeed...not all the collection was African in nature !!!!

 

I'm still leaning more towards the South Pacific.......



and while these are not exact matches........it's where my eye goes......

( oh...and it's been a while since i delved into Oceania ...)

 

Well now.....
I was asking @Calum Coutts some questions I thought worthwhile to inquire about..! Not you...him !
I said..." Why did u buy "....NOT as U quoted... 'why do WE buy...' !!

& Calum was OK to offer some answers...& did not seem at all offended by my questions...

You on the other hand said hurtful things........

"we should NOT feel ashamed"
"This is just plain insulting; implying the Buyer was stupid "
"komokwa... I know you live to antagonize"
"Tiny Tim is crying hysterically at your lack of Holiday “Spirit.” "

You sound as though you think you know me....but you clearly DO NOT !!!
And to lash out at me with such uncalled for vitriol.......and then condemn MY lack of holiday spirit...................WHAT HYPOCRISY.....
What unmitigated GALL !!!

You want to call attention to yourself on this site.........
well...doing it by trying to belittle me....... WILL NOT EARN YOU ANY FRIENDS !



Where do you get the stones to think that you can come at me like that .....

 

When I first saw the figure that's been in question, I also saw the characteristics of Oceanic art, as opposed to African, but it's not a figure I've encountered before.

However, after reading the post by 2manybooks, and looking online for Mbole carvings, I actually found an identical figure from a catalog for a May 31, 2020 auction.

I didn't want to sign in, or create an account, to read more, but I did find something on another site, by searching for "large stanging figure" the way it was misspelled in the catalog. Here's what appeared on the second site:


Provenance: - Private collection, London, UK Rare Metoko figure from the Bukota association Metoko figures are used during funerals, initiations of youths and peacemaking activities, and are believed to have ancestral associations. The heart-shaped face, elongated features and geometric angular forms are characteristic of carving styles of the Equatorial Forest.

 

Obviously the photo didn't copy. But it looks identical to the one the OP posted.

 

I believe this is the second site that Taupou found:

https://www.catawiki.com/l/37374779...ion-metoko-mbole-democratic-republic-of-congo

Several pics to see and it went unsold because it failed to meet the reserve price.

 

That was actually the first site, which I couldn't read because I didn't want to open an account.

However, although it's Mbole, there is no mention of this being carved to portray someone hanged, so it's probably for less "dark" occasions. That should ease the mind, CC.

If the price was right, I wouldn't have hesitated to buy it. Or any of the other pieces, for that matter. Although this was the only one I was really unfamiliar with. But not now, thank you, @2manybooks!

 

@Taupou you can just click on 'view this lot' and read the description & see the pictures without having an account at catawiki.

 

well, I'll be a son of a gun !!!!!
That paint really threw me to a different part of the world.......

 

Thank you all again!

@Taupau - I think that is the actual statue I have. The painting is identical and the cracks are in the same place. Amazing that you managed to find it!! Ill sleep better tonight knowing that it probably doesn't home the soul of a hanging victim

@komokwa Cheers for the photos. The similarity in styles between the two different cultures is interesting

 

@Taupou, can you say anything about the shield and spear point?

As for the Mbole/Metoko figure, I would feel better if we could find another example that more closely resembled it, (other than itself), whether from Africa or Oceania. The blocky, triangular face, recessed (rather than protruding) eyes, and the wide and deeply cut striations along the whole piece seem distinctive. It may be that it did not sell at the first auction you found it in because it was misidentified.

 

Those are very good points. Perhaps I was too focused on confirming your identification as it being Mbole. Especially now, knowing that it may be the exact figure, misidentified. Another example of why I've never put much faith in internet "research." Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a published photo in any of my reference books. In my post (#10), to be more accurate, I should have said "although it's been identified as Mbole," rather than "although it's Mbole."

Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that the spelling was a serious typo in the auction listing, not something lending to the credibility of the auction house, and which contributed to my not opening an account there. Fortunately, I didn't have to do that on the second website, in order to see the description.

So, knowing what we know now, perhaps it isn't Mbole, or even African, afterall. The general form fits, with the bent knees, and I did read that the Mbole figures had inserted metal eyes, which may be missing here, but which would account for the "recessed" look.

However, the coloring, and the triangular shape of the head, is more in keeping with a bioma spirit figure from Papua New Guinea, although it lacks the detailed patterning usually found on the latter.

Maybe it's just a well-done fantasy figure, designed to take up our time trying to identify it.

 

As with any type of research, I try to find several independent sources that support the same conclusion. (But it is often difficult to figure out which internet sites are just copying one another.) I prefer the websites of museums where you can search their collections. They at least have more reliable provenance information, although even their catalog descriptions can be incorrect at times. The sites of specialty galleries can also be useful. I generally don't trust random auction, ebay or etsy descriptions, but if they add examples that are consistent with what I am finding in more reliable sources, all the better. Needless to say, a good collection of reference books is invaluable. But the internet is increasingly a source for good scholarly information, and really good for comparative image searches.

 

As to the Moluccas shield, I would like to see the back view, to see if it conforms to how the grip, where one holds the shield, is carved.

These are a popular souvenir item, used in war dance ceremonies throughout the former "Spice Islands." In some groups, they are also given as part of a bridegrooms marriage gifts. The hourglass shape is iconic to Moluccas shields, and I have read that the arrangement of the inserted shell pieces represents parts of the body, and the number may represent enemies killed. This one, however, looks more in the decorative category.

The spear I would also suspect is a tourist item, based on the fact that it appears to have been cut down, to a size previously accepted by airlines. Those days, however, are probably gone. I remember bringing back a similar spear from Fiji to the U.S. on Quantas, when spears like this were allowed in the cabin itself. Similar forms, with the numerous barbs, are found on several islands in the South Pacific.

 

@Taupou The size of the spear did strike me as strange. I cant see it being very practical so short!

Heres a pic of the back of the shield

 

The back of the shield looks like it was made right. In some of the more modern ones made for sale as souvenirs, the grips are made in chunks glued or tied together, not carved as one piece.

As the spears, some from Fiji can be as long as 14-15 feet.

 

OK, I think I have the mystery figure this time. This one was published in a 2015 exhibition catalog titled "Uziri Wa Dunia", by Bruneaf gallery, in Brussels:

https://bruneaf.com/en/catalog

Kela figure of a standing male (once part of a couple)
DR Congo
Wood, pigments
H: 31 cm
20th C.
Provenance:
Van Rijswijk collection 1930’s
Private collection, Brussels
Publication and exhibition:
Mestach W., L’Intelligence des Formes,
exhibition catalogue “Mestach l’africain”,
Brussels, Bruneaf, 2007, cat. 101, p. 220.

The Kela, Yela and Mbole ethnic groups are all located in the same area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). I have found a number of figures attributed to the Kela and Yela that include the broad vertical grooves on the head and torso, colored with red and white pigments. The head shapes are much more like CC's as well. This one from Bruneaf has the best provenance. Most of the others I have found on less reliable sites such as catawiki, and pinterest with broken links. But they all seem to point in the same direction of Kela/Yela attribution.


https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lot...a-DRC/38957275-cubistic_cult-29.7.20-catawiki



https://www.pinterest.it/pin/783907878881700670/

https://www.catawiki.com/l/37403847-ancestor-figure-wood-kela-yela-statuette-dr-congo

There are also masks attributed to the Kela/Yela that show the same broad grooves and pigmentation:

https://www.lauritz.com/en/auction/yela-mask/i2181406/

https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/436567757630959952/

That's my best guess for now. Part of the challenge of understanding African art is that, not only did the names of countries change over the last 150 years, but the names of ethnic groups can be quite variable as the orthography has evolved.