KONGO NAIL POWER FIGURE OF THE NAME "BICHELLE", NKISI NKONDI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

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Description

wood, metal, glass, mirror, fabric, fibers
25 1/2 by 12 by 10 in. 64.8 by 30.5 by 25.4 cm.

Number painted in white on the left leg: "4910"; a tag attached reading: "Bawili" (recto) and "Maf 8970" (verso)

Provenance

Collected in situ by Robert Visser, the figure's name is recorded as "Bichelle"
Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig, acquired from the above in 1903 (inv. no. "Maf 8970")
Everett Rassiga, New York, acquired from the above by exchange in 1985
Merton D. Simpson, New York, acquired from the above (inv. no. "4190")
Sotheby's London, March 26, 1990, lot 146 (illustrated on cover)
Armand Arman, New York, acquired at the above auction
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1999

Exhibited

Musée d'arts africains, océaniens, amérindiens, Marseille, June 23 - October 30, 1996
Musée national des arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, December 3, 1996 - February 17, 1997
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Museum für Völkerkunde, Cologne, March - August 1997
Museum for African Art, New York, October 9, 1997 - April 19, 1998

Literature

Museum for African Art, African Faces, African Figures: The Arman Collection, New York, 1997, pp. 104-105, no. 54