| SONGYE Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Songye ivory figure Probably used as the final to a staff in my opinion considering how the hole in the center was carved. I LOVE this little figure. 3" tall x 1" wide x 1.75" deep |
| Some Songye ivory figures below from Sotheby's for reference Ivory wasn't widely used by the Songye as a medium for carving, but it was used. |
| Property from a European Private Collection Sotheby's 2004 - Lot 75 A FINE AND RARE SONGE IVORY MALE AND FEMALE PAIR each of similar form, standing on a tapering circular base and flat feet beneath angular, muscular legs, the arms bent alongside the torso with the finely incised hands resting on the prominent abdomen, pointed breasts and shelf-like shoulders, the broad neck surmounted by the heads with pyramidal faces, incised eyes, sagittate nose and broad mouths with tight lips, the female with incised notches at the forehead; fine glossy cream to beige ivory patina. heights 7 5/8in. (male) and 8in. (female) 19.5cm and 20cm PROVENANCE Carel van Lier, Amsterdam, number 814, before 1927 Loed van Bussel, Amsterdam EXHIBITED Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling van oude negerplastik: collectie van Kunstzaal Van Lier, January 8 -31,1927 PUBLISHED Corbey 2000: 42-43 Van Lier 2003: 14 and cover See the following lot for more information on Carel van Lier and his gallery. The photograph of Van Lier shown below was believed to have been taken in 1927 during the exhibition of African works of art from his gallery at the modern art museum in Amsterdam. The two Songe ivory figures are shown on the shelf behind him, the female to his left and the male to the right. In the foreground is the Goma figure also offered (lot 76) reunited here with this Songe ivory pair seventy-seven years later. Fine ivory carvings are certainly well-known throughout Central Africa, and in particular among Songe-related groups such as the Luba. However, ivory carvings are rare among the Songe, and are ususally seen in the form of prestige objects. A Songe ivory in the collection of theTervuren Museum for example (MRAC 1995: 348-349, no. 150), while carved in the form of a horn, was most likely never used, rather it served as an object of regalia. See also Sotheby's, London (July 13, 1971, lot 203) for another Songe ivory object, possibly a finial or a mortar depicting two adorsed figures. Also rare in Songe patrilineal culture are depictions of male and female pairs (Felix 1987: 164). The creation of a male and female pair in ivory suggests, therefore, that this Songe pair was almost certainly a prestige object carved in a Lubaized region of Songe territory. Estimate - $50,000-70,000 |
| Songye power figure Melvin Briggs Collection - USA 19.5 " tall |
| African ivory main page |
