The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2023

Female Figurine

late 1800s-early 1900s

Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Beembe-style maker

Wood, possibly ceramic, and copper alloy

Overall: 17 x 5.8 x 4.2 cm (6 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.)

René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.429

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The carvings in the figure’s abdomen reflect the custom of body scarification among the Beembe people.

Description

Beembe figurines generally have greatly detailed anatomical and decorative features. The scarification among Beembe men and women communicated their ideas about local beauty and ethnic belonging. These figures are charged with an ancestor’s spirit through a mixture of resin and human-derived ingredients—taken from the corpse of the person they possibly portray—into a small cavity near the rectum.

Provenance
?-1967
(Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, 1967, sold to René and Odette Delenne)
1967-2010
René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2010
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
Citations
Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 25, 34. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 34, 112 cat. no. 1
Exhibition history

Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.429