Half-Figure (late 1800s–early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Half-Figure (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:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Half-Figure
• Date: late 1800s–early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, probably Kusu-style maker
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood and iron
• Dimensions: Overall: 20 x 6.8 x 8.5 cm (7 7/8 x 2 11/16 x 3 3/8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.457

A detail from the museum

This figure would have been used in a powerful association known as Bugabo, specializing in healing, hunting, and fighting crime.

Collection credit

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• Debbaut, Jan, Dominique Favart, G. van Geertruyen, and Palais des beaux-arts (Brussels, Belgium). 1988. Utotombo : L’art D’afrique Noire Dans Les Collections Privées Belges : Société Des Expositions Du Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 25 Mars-5 Juin 1988 Ed. française ed. Bruxelles: Palais des beaux-arts, p. 239, cat. 235.
• 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, 84.

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.