Tabwa Male Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Mariette Henau, Antwerp
Alan Brandt, New York
Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired from the above on April 26, 1996

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Utotombo, March 25 - June 5, 1988
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, extended loan, April 2, 1998 - April 2, 1999

Jan Debbaut, Dominique Favart, and Godelieve van Geertruyen, Utotombo : l'art d'Afrique noire dans les collections privées belges, Brussels, 1988, p. 240, fig. 239

Very good condition for an object of this type and age. Nose rubbed. Minor marks, nicks, scratches, abrasions, and wear throughout consistent with age and traditional handling. Minor stable vertical age cracks. Age crack to proper right edge of integrally-carved plinth into foot. Wear and minor chipping along bottom edge. Fine glossy blackened patina. Permanently fixed to modern wood base with two pins in the underside.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Tabwa inhabited the southern reaches of the Western Rift in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northeastern Zambia, near Lake Tanganyika.. The borders between the Tabwa homeland and those of their neighbors were highly permeable, giving the Tabwa prolonged exposure to and interaction with the neighboring Bembe, Tumbwe, Luba and Hemba peoples. The art of the Tabwa, like other aspects of their culture, has been profoundly influenced by such contact. See Roberts (in Maurer and Roberts 1985: 1-10) and Grunne (in Maurer and Roberts 1985: 91-96) for further discussion.

Tabwa statuary was until the 1980s little-studied and remains enigmatic.  Relating to the traditions of ancestor statuary among the Luba and the Hemba, these finely carved figures are typically of relatively small scale and are depicted standing upright, most often with a slightly upturned head and a body of thin elongated proportions, usually wearing a close cap-like coiffure and invariably with matrices of linear geometric scarification represented. The present figure is of highly refined quality and unusually large size.  Furthermore it seems to be unique in the corpus in that the hands are held behind the back, separated and away from the body.