Lot 295: A fine and rare pre-Bembe Hunter figure

Pre-Bembe hunter groups, D.R. Congo; H: 15"

The columnar figure, well carved in a dense hardwood simply yet powerfully depicting the revered ancestor; fine overall patination, with lustrous highlights.

Comments:
Originating from subgroups described by D. Biebuyck [1981] as the ‘pre-Bembe hunters’, such figures were used in an ancestor cult where they represented the founders of small independent political units. This fine old figure displays a classical column-like torso, and abstracted triangulation of the face. Variations between the images into recognized sub groupings, may be due to the non unified nature of these groups within the larger Bembe cultural context.

Provenance:
- Zollman Collection, IND
- Gelbard collection, NY

Publication History:
Remnants of Ritual: Selections from the Gelbard collection of African Art (2003) Bourgeois & Rodolitz; Pg. 53, Fig. 112

Exhibition History:
Exhibition History: USA: "Remnants of Ritual, Selections from the Gelbard Collection of African Art":
- University Park, IL: Governors State University, February 2003
- Krannert, IL: Krannert Art Museum, 26 August-26 October, 2003
- Kansas City, MO: Belger Art Foundation/UNIVERSITY of Missouri-
Kansas City, 2004
- Park Forest, IL: Tall Grass Art Association, 2005

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