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

Male 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:

This figure was the Delennes' first African art acquisition. They purchased the work in Paris in 1958—the year they were married—from the then leading French dealer Henri Kamer. The couple's interest in African art, which also inspired this particular acquisition, was triggered by their visit to the Congolese pavilion at the Brussels world's fair that same year. This experience made a lasting impression and triggered a lifelong appreciation for the art of what was then still the Belgian Congo. Although Odette later admitted that she knew that this figure was not the best example of Teke art, she and her husband held on to it because it served as a personal souvenir of their meeting each other.

Object facts

• Title: Male Figure
• Date: late 1800s-early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo or Democratic Republic of the Congo, Teke-style maker
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood, cloth, organic material, and copper alloy
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.5 x 7.5 x 8 cm (9 1/4 x 2 15/16 x 3 1/8 in.); without base: 23.3 cm (9 3/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.431

A detail from the museum

This figure was the Delennes' first African art acquisition; it symbolized Rene and Odette’s first meeting.

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, 36.

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.