beautiful old BEMBE (BEEMBE) Congo figure * no reserve

Home > Worthopedia – Price Guide > Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art >

Terms and Conditions for using our site

beautiful old BEMBE (BEEMBE) Congo figure * no reserve

Sold For:

or Sign In to see what it's worth.

Sold Date: 02/27/2008
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

OLD BEMBE ( BEEMBE ) FIGURE CONGO
This exquisite female figure is from the Beembe people. The torso is decorated with raised scarification of this ethnic group. The female figure is lifting her breasts. Sheets of metal are encrusted to the eyes. Very beautiful unique reddish brown patina
NO RESERVE !!!
Type of Object: Carving, figure Ethnic Group: Beembe (or Bembe) Country of Origin: DR Congo, People Republic of Congo Materials: Wood, pigment, metal Approximate Age: Early - Mid 20th century Dimensions: Height is 22 cm (8 1/2 inches) . Weight is 300 grams ( 10 1/4 oz ) Overall Condition: Excellent Damage, Repair: General wear, crack on the torso and head. Old repair
Bembe sculptures are usually small, with figures carved either standing or seated. They are commonly ornamented with
scarifications, and eyes are often shown by chipped china or inset beads. Mother and child figures are carved in similar style. Other sculptures include warriors shown carrying guns and knives and large anthropomorphic cloth figures designed to contain the bones of ancestors
The Bembe form a small group of 60,000 to 80,000 people; they live on the plateaus situated to the north of the Zaire River, as well as on the shores of Stanley Pool and in the cities of Brazzaville, Dolisie, and Pointe-Noire. The Bembe had close contacts with their neighbors the Teke, but Kongo contributions were essential to their culture and traditions. Their social organization was based on the matrimonial clan, whose members could live in several villages. The family unit generally included three generations. The chief in charge of the village, the nga-bula, mediated with the ancestors. Hunting was the main activity; before leaving on a hunt, the leader would invoke the ancestral spirits, using as intermediaries statuettes kneeling in the position of a hunter waiting for his prey. The Bembe believed in a creator god, Nzambi, whom they did not depict figuratively. He was the master of the life and death - unless the latter was due to the act of a sorcerer, ndoki, who could magically "eat" the life force of clan members. The ancestors had close ties with the living and received offerings through the "priest," who made appeals to statuettes, the kitebi or bimbi, consecrated by the sorcerer. These figurines were the idealized images of the ancestors and would often wear attributes that allowed them to be identified as medicine men or hunters. The ancestor worship among the Bembe is older, though, and precedes the use of magic statues, nkisi, by the sorcerers.
Bembe art is profoundly religious; its purpose is to maintain contact with the dead. The art is quite original, consisting mainly of minutely carved ancestral figures that can be identified by extensive scarification on the abdomen. Such body decoration no longer exists today but survives as a style characteristic of the sculpture. The Bembe statuettes are divided by size and sex. As long as the spirit lives in the statue, it watches over its descendants and punishes transgressors of customs or precepts. The statuette is dressed in a skin or fabric loincloth and a beaded necklace, and wears a beard. The palms of the male sculptures' hands are turned toward one another or they carry objects: a rifle or knife in the right hand and a calabash in the left. Sometimes two braids frame the face, sometimes the hairdo ends in a long braid at the back of the head. The figure usually is upright with knees slightly bent, its large feet with carefully articulated toes standing on the base; the seated position occurs less frequently. Female statuettes have a pronounced, almost square, chin, a large nose and mouth, finely sculpted ears, and hair carved in relief on the forehead. The muziri is an anthropomorphic power figure, composed of plant material covered in red fabric, which contains relics of the ancestor and receives, under a small purpose-built shelter, regular libations of palm wine and food offerings.
The Bembe group of people migrated from the Congo in the 18th century, resettling in t...