Iron tacks inserted into the lobes of the hairdo indicate that this sculpture was originally empowered with magical and medicinal substances. Thus charged, the figure would have been used in divination and was related to a powerful association known as Bugabo. Members specialized in healing, hunting, and fighting crime.

<i>Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).

Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture

<i>Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths</i>. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (June 3-December 30, 2018); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 10-October 20, 2019); Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (November 10, 2019-August 16, 2020).

Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths

A dark-brown wood and iron sculpture depicts a figure truncated at the thighs. Their thin arms reach from the shoulders with hands resting on a protruding stomach. Slit eyes look down over an open mouth, and V-shaped lines cover the neck. A pointed spike sits atop the large oval head above an incised grid pattern on the forehead. The wide, flared base is split by a central vertical crack.

(Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, before 1967, sold to René and Odette Delenne)

René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

Half-Figure

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, probably Kusu-style maker

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Half-Figure

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, probably Kusu-style maker

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Half-Figure

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