Female Figurine (late 1800s–early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Female Figurine (late 1800s–early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This female figurine may be a fragment of a spoon or spatula, but is not confirmed. Iconography of the human image is common in the art of Kongo-speaking peoples, however, this object’s function or purpose is unknown. The position of the arms has been interpreted as that of a bound prisoner while the positioning of the head represents a broken neck or severed head, thus identifying as a sacrificial victim.

Object facts

• Title: Female Figurine
• Date: late 1800s–early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, probably Yombe-style maker
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 12 x 2.5 x 4.5 cm (4 3/4 x 1 x 1 3/4 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.449

A detail from the museum

This object is believed to be a portion of a spoon or a spatula. The position of the prisoner is believed to be a sacrificial victim.

Collection credit

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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, 44, 112.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.