Punu-Lumbo Female Figure, Gabon

Lucien Van de Velde, Antwerp, by 1978
Frits J. Schmidt, Antwerp, acquired from the above
Bernard Leyden, New York
Pace Primitive, New York
Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired from the above on October 10, 1996

Hamline University Art Galleries, Saint Paul, Icons of Perfection: Figurative Sculpture from Africa, December 2, 2005 – February 11, 2006

Lucien Van de Velde and Johan Henau (adv.), Arts d'Afrique Noire, No. 52, 1984, p. 55
Frank Herreman, Icons of Perfection: Figurative Sculpture from Africa, Saint Paul, 2006, p. 32, cat. 16

Among the Punu and Lumbo of Gabon, figural sculptures are rare and little precise information is known about their ritual context. In their discussion of the Kunin statuette at the occasion of the exhibition Icons of Perfection: Figurative Sculpture from Africa, Ken Favell and MacKenzie Moon (in Herreman 2006: 33, text to cat. 16) note: "The Lumbo are closely related to the Punu, and both have a moukouyi society; this society utilizes both okuyi masks as well as sculpted figures. Figures are most often used for divination rituals, as reliquary guardians and protective objects. The coiffure and scarification patterns on this figure recall okuyi masks; the coiffure has a similar high middle crest, braids that run laterally along the sides of the head, and a braid below the chin. The diamond scarification pattern on the forehead also resembles okuyi masks. This sculpture closely resembles the [Punu or] Lumbo standing female figure [...] in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum."

The aforementioned figure entered the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum in 1890 (inv. no. "1890.1545"). Another related figure was formerly in the collection of Pierre Vérité, Paris (sold at Enchères Rive Gauche, Collection Vérité, June 17-18, 2006, lot 184).