Figure: Seated Male

19th–early 20th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Kongo sculptors produced works for a variety of patrons, including priests and leaders, and sometimes there was overlapping of the forms commissioned by these clients. Such figures of a seated chief striking a contemplative pose were also placed in a chief’s commemorative ancestral shrine (nzo a bakulu) as part of a display of the textiles, stoneware, terracotta, and wood sculptures that he accrued. In contrast to the adjacent figure, which emphasizes a long narrow torso and arms, this one is dense and robust.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Figure: Seated Male
Date: 19th–early 20th century
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group
Medium: Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment
Dimensions: H. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm), W. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm), D. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
Classification: Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line: Private Collection
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing