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Three-headed male figure

19th–early 20th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 345
The three faces that extend around the summit of this commanding figure assert its heightened powers of perception and omniscience. The elongated torso offers a canvas for richly inscribed and colored graphic designs. Historically applied to the bodies of Kuyu men, those motifs conveyed meanings about life, death, and the origins of the community. The chevron pattern across the back signifies communication or contact—each angle represents the juncture between two distinct elements. This complex, elaborate creation was likely the centerpiece of narratives concerning a clan’s formation that were related over the course of initiation rites. The three projections from the crown of the figure’s detachable head allude to Djo, the horned viper, from which one branch of the Kuyu claims descent.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Three-headed male figure
  • Artist: Kuyu artist
  • Date: 19th–early 20th century
  • Geography: Republic of Congo, Kuyu River region
  • Culture: Kuyu
  • Medium: Wood, pigment
  • Dimensions: H. 53 3/4 × W. 7 × D. 7 in. (136.5 × 17.8 × 17.8 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Funds from various donors, Daniel and Marian Malcolm Gift, and Laura and James J. Ross Gift, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.447
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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