Statue, Bembe-Dondo, République du Congo

Pace Gallery, New York, 1978
Collection Lee Bronson, Los Angeles
Loudmer, Paris, 27 June 1991, n° 33
Ricqles (de), Paris, 28 mai 2000, n° 181
Alain de Monbrison, Paris
Collection Robert et Lillian Bohlen, Brighton
Sotheby’s, New York, Collections Bareiss, Bohlen and Dinhofer, 16 mai 2008, n°123
Collection Daniel et Carmen Klein

Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, A survey of Zairian Art, The Bronson Collection, 23 avril - 4 juin 1978 ; Washington, Museum of African Art, 25 juillet - 25 septembre 1978 ; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 14 novembre 1978 - 21 janvier 1979
Saint Paul, Hamline University Art Galleries, Icons of perfection. Figurative Sculpture from Afrika, 2 décembre 2005-11 février 2006

African Arts, vol. XI, n° 4, juillet 1978, p. 8
Cornet, A survey of Zairian Art, The Bronson Collection, 1978, p. 324-327, n° 185
Lehuard, Arts Bakongo. Les centres de style, vol. II, 1989, p. 414, n° BW 1-1
Robbins et Nooter, African Art in American Collections, 1989, p. 377, n° 964
Felix, Art & Kongos. Les peuples kongophones et leur sculpture. Biteki bia Bakongo, Volume 1 : Les Kongos du Nord, 1995, p. 197
Herreman, Icons of perfection. Figurative Sculpture from Afrika, 2006, p. 32, n° 15
Lehuard et Lecomte, Statuaire Babembé, 2010, p. 150-151, n° 85 a-b, et couverture

Good condition overall. Wear consistent with age and use within the culture. Both forearm missing and two open cracks on chest and abdomen, all visible in the catalogue illustration. The carving all around the torso is very well preserved. Very beautiful old nuanced patina with a variety of dark and reddish brown tones.
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Si Raoul Lehuard (Art Bakongo. Les centres de style, 1989, p. 414) et Marc Felix (Art & Kongos, 1995, p. 197) attribuent cette célèbre statue de l’ancienne collection Lee Bronson aux Bembe occidentaux, les deux auteurs soulignent son caractère tant exceptionnel qu’atypique : unique exemplaire du corpus de sexe masculin, qui plus est représenté debout, et dont les jambes « de manière très cubiste, sont sculptées en cônes opposés ». Elle se distingue de surcroît par sa prodigieuse ornementation corporelle dans laquelle se distinguent, sur les pectoraux, des « éléments iconiques rappelant une scène de chasse (antilope et chasseur), très influencés [à l’instar du traitement en à-plat de la mâchoire inférieure] par l’art Dondo » (Lehuard, idem). 

Bembe-Dondo figure, Republic of the Congo

Although Raoul Lehuard (Art Bakongo. Les centres de style, 1989, p. 414) and March Felix (Art & Kongos, 1995, p. 197) attribute the famous statue from the former collection Bronson Lee to the Western Bembe, the two authors emphasize its unique and atypical aspect: the sole male specimen within the corpus, which is moreover figured standing and whose legs "in a very cubist manner, are carved as opposing cones." It also stands out for its prodigious ornamentation, wherein "iconic elements reminiscent of a hunting scene (antelope and hunter), much influenced [as with the low-relief treatment of the lower jaw] by Dondo art" stand out on the pectorals (Lehuard, ibid).