Kongo-Vili Female Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo or Gabon

Merton D. Simpson, New York (inv. no. "6003")
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on November 14, 1990

This figure, made of hardwood, was presumably emersed in water for a considerable amount of time, resulting in an unusually weathered surface. While the facial features are too worn to be distinctive, the scarification pattern on the upper back between the shoulder blades supports the Vili attribution.

The Allan Stone female figure relates to two other heavily eroded Vili figures which reportedly were found together in 1952 in southewest Gabon, between Tchibanga and Mayumba, in peat soil by a team of petrol engeneers. These figures entered the collection of Alain Schoffel and were subsequently published by Lehuard (1989: 223, fig. D 2-3-1 & 2) who classified them as "style de Mayumba". Another closely related figure, previously in the collection of Olivier Lecorneur, has been dated by radiocarbon analysis to circa 1600 (published in Dulon 2006, unpaginated, folio 32 verso - 34 recto).