Superbe et rare sommet de sceptre-tabatière , Tshokwe, Angola

Collection Alfredo Baptista Cunha Braga (1869-1932), Portugal, inv. n° 6, acquis en 1903
Transmis par descendance à l'actuel propriétaire

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Dans son agenda / livre d'inventaire, Alfredo Baptista Cunha Braga (1869-1932) nota, à la première page de l'année 1903, sous le numéro 6 (étiquette apposée sous la base), un manipanso, signifiant à l'époque "idole parmi les nègres".

Cette œuvre témoigne de l'une des expressions les plus emblématiques de l'art africain, dont le prestige repose à la fois sur une tradition artistique princière, et sur les solutions plastiques inventées par les sculpteurs Tshokwe pour exprimer les notions de puissance et de souveraineté. Le chef est représenté assis, encadré par deux esprits protecteurs, son rang princier signifié par la coiffe mutwe wa kayanda. A l'iconographie s'ajoute la force de l'emblème, réunissant ici les deux objets d'apparat les plus prestigieux de la cour Tshokwe : le sceptre et la tabatière. cf. Bastin (1982 : 200-201) pour un autre rare sceptre-tabatière, celui-là complet, conservé au Musée de Tervuren.

A la force de l'emblème répond celle exprimée par la sculpture. Jouant librement des proportions, l'artiste a concentré l'attention sur l'exceptionnelle dynamique des lignes, dont la densité du rythme - en plans serrés profondément inclinés - accentue la puissance de la représentation. Equilibrée par l'architecture complexe de la base - liant dans un même mouvement les personnages auxiliaires aux attributs - pipe tenue dans la main gauche et coupe Pende dans celle de droite - la tête s'impose, magistrale. Aux traits puissants s'étirant sur toute la largeur de la face répond le déploiement de la coiffe en une succession de courbes, dont l'ampleur est soulignée par le décor à têtes de clous en cuivre.  

Cette "miniature" exprime les qualités du plus grand art Tshokwe : celui du pays d'origine. Son style relève de l'"école de Moxico", capitale de la région du haut Zambèze, dont les sculpteurs ont produit pour la cour, au XVIII^e et au début du XIX^e siècle, les œuvres les plus puissantes et les plus raffinées (en particulier ici dans la beauté des détails anatomiques), comme en témoigne ce rare sommet de sceptre-tabatière, superbement mis en valeur par la patine nuancée, brune et brun rouge.

Superb and rare Chokwe finial from a scepter-tobacco box, Angola

Alfredo Baptista Cunha Braga (1869-1932) was a brilliant entrepreneur and a passionate collector, as interested in Chinese porcelain and Spanish paintings, as he was in these Angolan works of art, which he purchased in Lisbon at the turn of the 20th century.  He kept an inventory of all his acquisitions from 1903 onwards in a sales journal dated 1907. In this journal, and under the year 1903, he described this lot as a "manipanso", which at the time meant "idol amongst the negro peoples." The corresponding ticket, number 6, is still stuck to the base.

This piece exemplifies one of the most characteristic expressions of African art. Its prestige is derived both from the fact that it forms part of a royal artistic tradition, and because of the exceptional plastic solutions which the Chokwe sculptor invented to express notions of power and majesty in this piece. The chief is represented in a sitting position, flanked by two guardian spirits; with the mutwe wa kayanda headdress indicating his royal status. The iconography of this piece is enhanced by the bringing together of powerful emblems, including the sceptre and the tobacco box, which are the two most prestigious ceremonial objects of the Chokwe court: cf. Bastin (1982 : 200-201). For another rare, and in this case complete, sceptre-tobacco box see the example kept in the Musée de Tervuren.

The power of the emblems is mirrored by the sculptural form. Using proportions freely, the artist focuses attention on the exceptional linear dynamics, whose dense rhythm—in tight, deeply inclined planes— accentuate the power of the representation. The head, balanced by the complex architecture of the base, links the supporting figures (the pipe held in the left hand and the Pende cup in the right) to the main figure of the chief, in a strikingly majestic manner.

This "miniature" is an expression of the finest qualities of Chokwe art, and it has its origin in the motherland itself; for it is typical of the "Moxico School" based in the capital of the Upper Zambezi region. The sculptors of this school produced very powerful and refined pieces for the royal court in the 18^th and the beginning of the 19^th centuries and this lot is representative of their skills, displayed particularly here by the beauty of the anatomical details of this rare sceptre head-tobacco box.