Tabwa Female Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels
Irwin Hersey, New York, acquired from the above
Gerald Dannenberg, New York, presumably acquired from the above
Sotheby's, New York, November 14, 1995, lot 39, consigned by the above
Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired at the above auction

Sotheby's, New York, May 20, 1987, lot 168 (unsold)

This female figure can be attributed to the same workshop or workshops as a group of three figures collected in 1884 by the Belgian Lieutenant Emile Storms, who had established a post at Mpala in 1883.  These figures consist of a large male figure carrying an axe today in the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren (inv. no. "31661" Maurer and Roberts 1985: 124), which Storms identified as Chief Manda of the Marungu, as well as a male and female pair closer to the scale of the present figure, also at Tervuren (inv. nos. "31670" and "31671").  Storms noted not all sculptures in this style can be identified with Manda.  Three other figures collected in the 1920s near Lake Tanganyika were in a private Belgian collection (ibid.: 128-129).