Ngbandi Female Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo

carved of Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) tooth.

Ladislas and Helena Segy, New York, by 1952

Ladislas Segy, African Sculpture Speaks, New York, 1952, p. 224, fig. 268
Ladislas Segy, "Circle-Dot Symbolic Sign on African Ivory Carvings", Zaire, Vol. VII, No. 1, 1953, p. 12, fig. 12
Herman Burssens, "Sculptuur in Ngbandi-stijl: Een bijdrage tot de studie van de plastiek van Noord-Kongo", Kongo-Overzee, Antwerp, 1958, XXIV, pp. 1-2, no. 29
Ladislas Segy, African Sculpture Speaks, New York, 1969, p. 260, fig. 397
Ladislas Segy, African Sculpture Speaks, New York, 1975, p. 260, fig. 397
Herman Burssens, Sculptuur van de Ngbandi, Gent, 2002, p. 9, afb. 4
Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, Ubangi: Art and Cultures from the African Heartland, Brussels, 2007, p. 214, fig. 7

Very good condition for an object of this age and exceedingly rare, presumably unique, type of object. Minor marks, nicks, scratches, abrasions, and very small chips consistent with age, material, and use. Underside with two holes for attachment to modern base. Vertical hairline age cracks as seen in catalogue illustration. A small section of the lower proper left of the sculpture is cleanly broken (resulting from previous mount) and glued; another vertical hairline crack on the opposite side, needs stabilization. Possibly at some point cut at bottom for mounting. Exceptionally fine surface rubbed and worn from extensive use.
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.

Like the Ngbaka, Banda, and Ngombe, the Ngbandi occupy the northwest Congo in what is known as the Ubangi River Region.  The sculpture from this area was until recently little-understood, despite its presence in some of the earliest and most influential collections of African art including those of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and Pablo Picasso (see Sotheby's, New York, May 16, 2014, lot 308).

According to Burssens (in Grootaers 2007: 114), the "Ngbandi live in two regions between the Ubangi and Congo rivers [and their statuary] has by far the most recognizable characteristics. For example, Ngbandi sculptors certainly made fairly slender statues with pointed, cut-out hairstyle. At the time, the hair of both men and women was shaved in an inverted 'V' above the forehead [...]."  The particularly ingenious style of cubist abstraction employed by Ngbandi artists relates to their actual practices of personal adornment, including this "inverted-V" hairstyle as well as the distinctive style of scarification of the forehead, with a notched line extending up the center above the bridge of the nose, a practice also found among other Ubangian cultures including the Ngbaka. 

First published by Ladislas Segy in 1952, the present female figure is a particularly elegant expression of this style, carved of Hippopotamus tooth. The astonishingly elongated head is faceted and notched to represent the face and coiffure.  Small round breasts are the only recognizable features on an otherwise abstract scooped body that flanges toward the base, balancing the volume of the head.  The rounded linear ridges that border the face are rendered in high relief, and enclose a field of tidy repeating lines on the reverse representing the coiffure.

Ngbandi sculpture is extremely rare, and no other ivories of comparable quality are known.  The style of this miniature figure is however not without precedent in larger Ngbandi sculpture, as well as in other miniature sculptures in wood which exhibit the same morphology of the head and face.  These include a figure previously in the collection of Jean-Pierre Jernander, which was reportedly collected in the village of Kusangu in the Uele Region by Dr. Boris Ade between 1949 and 1957 (Quay-Lombrail, Paris, June 26, 1996, lot 22 and cover).  For several figures with closely related heads featuring the same notched scarification pattern on the bridge of the nose, and several comparable amulets with metal-wrapped handles, see Grootaers (ibid.: 116, fig. 3.6 and 118, figs. 3.8 and 3.9). For several examples of related Ubangian pendants representing heads, strung on leather straps, and also with the notched scarification, see also Grootaers (ibid: 246-247, figs. 5.15-5.17).

The present figure is pierced for attachmen, and Burssens (in Grootaers 2007: 117-118) offers a clue to its possible function: "Each Ngbandi village had one or more lombé (a warrior who had proven his courage and was responsible for watching over the village and taking the lead in combat. [The Belgian missionary Basiel] Tanghe added that a lombé who had killed somebody in extremely dangerous circumstances wore a fruit from the kpwokoro tree on his arm during a battle: 'He who had killed two or three people [in war] would proudly wear that number of fruits on his arm, along with a fetish [...] attached next to them... This attire is called maba.' There are a few known examples of figurative amulets that were collected from the Ngbandi at the time, executed in both wood and ivory."  The scooped form of the body may also indicate that its function was rather as a sacred spoon for the manipulation of magic substances.