Rare Anthropomorphic Figure Iginga - Lega - DR Congo
09
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Current bid
€ 15
Reserve price not met
Expert
Selected by Dimitri André
Holds a postgraduate degree in African studies and 15 years experience in African art.
Estimate € 2,200 - € 2,500
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 Bidder 1541 | €15 |
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Rare Lega Iginga anthropomorphic figure from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dating to the early 20th century, with Belgian provenance.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Old Lega statue – from a Belgian artist (1960s)
This work has an exceptional provenance and will be provided with provenance documents relating to its sale.
Description of the artwork and its provenance
Few ancient Lega statues offered for sale on Catawiki. Originating from Central Africa (the DRC), this distinctive piece is at once rare and deeply expressive. It is distinguished by a highly legible sculptural language: a compact body built in dense volumes, a broad head with a powerful gaze, and a deliberate stylization that condenses the essence of the Lega idiom. The whole exudes an immediate presence, almost architectural, where every mass seems conceived as a block, with a sobriety that strikes both the eye of the collector and that of the enthusiast.
The patina, warm and ancient, reveals prolonged use and a real history. The wear and contact areas, as well as the marks of time, reinforce the authenticity of the work and give it that particular vibration that collectors seek: a living bone-like surface, charged, never “new,” never decorative.
The value of this statue is also enhanced by its provenance. It comes from a Belgian collection assembled in the 1960s by an artist trained in Brussels, specializing in monumental painting and three-dimensional research, in the wake of Jo Delahaut's teaching (1911–1992) at La Cambre. Attuned to geometric abstract art and the constructivism of the 1960s–1970s, this collector kept the work for several decades, finding in it an evident source of formal inspiration: the power of volumes, the balance of masses, the construction of the body as architecture.
The statue will be sold with an original origin and provenance document certifying its collecting history, which is a rare and highly reassuring asset in today’s market.
An artwork that is both intimate and powerful, this Lega statue speaks to a demanding collector, in search of an authentic, ancient piece that is coherent and carried by a significant European provenance, without artifice. A beautiful collectible object, but also a sculpture that naturally engages with a contemporary interior and a gaze shaped by modernity.
Bwami Cult - Iginga
It is here an authentic Iginga Lega statuette, a prestigious typology closely tied to the Bwami cult, one of the most structuring initiation institutions of Lega society. Bwami is not a mere ritual framework: it organizes the transmission of knowledge, social hierarchy, ethics, and philosophy of the group, through a graduated progression marked by trials, teachings, and objects of power. In this context, Iginga figures occupy a central place: true supports of memory and values, they embody moral principles, models of conduct, and symbolic authority associated with high ranks. Their presence was neither decorative nor incidental; they intervened at specific moments of initiatory life, served as emblems and pedagogical instruments, and materialized, through their condensed form and deliberately essential design, a power and knowledge reserved for initiates. Owning an ancient Iginga, with a patina marked and a mastered sculpture, therefore means preserving a tangible fragment of this major institution, where art is never separated from meaning, rank, and transmission.
The item will be carefully packaged.
Shipping within 24 hours, tracking number provided to track your package, plus insurance.
African art - Tribal art - Primitive art - Statue - Figure - Mask - Congo - Zaire - African art - Ethnic art - art deco - interior design - design - contemporary
Old Lega statue – from a Belgian artist (1960s)
This work has an exceptional provenance and will be provided with provenance documents relating to its sale.
Description of the artwork and its provenance
Few ancient Lega statues offered for sale on Catawiki. Originating from Central Africa (the DRC), this distinctive piece is at once rare and deeply expressive. It is distinguished by a highly legible sculptural language: a compact body built in dense volumes, a broad head with a powerful gaze, and a deliberate stylization that condenses the essence of the Lega idiom. The whole exudes an immediate presence, almost architectural, where every mass seems conceived as a block, with a sobriety that strikes both the eye of the collector and that of the enthusiast.
The patina, warm and ancient, reveals prolonged use and a real history. The wear and contact areas, as well as the marks of time, reinforce the authenticity of the work and give it that particular vibration that collectors seek: a living bone-like surface, charged, never “new,” never decorative.
The value of this statue is also enhanced by its provenance. It comes from a Belgian collection assembled in the 1960s by an artist trained in Brussels, specializing in monumental painting and three-dimensional research, in the wake of Jo Delahaut's teaching (1911–1992) at La Cambre. Attuned to geometric abstract art and the constructivism of the 1960s–1970s, this collector kept the work for several decades, finding in it an evident source of formal inspiration: the power of volumes, the balance of masses, the construction of the body as architecture.
The statue will be sold with an original origin and provenance document certifying its collecting history, which is a rare and highly reassuring asset in today’s market.
An artwork that is both intimate and powerful, this Lega statue speaks to a demanding collector, in search of an authentic, ancient piece that is coherent and carried by a significant European provenance, without artifice. A beautiful collectible object, but also a sculpture that naturally engages with a contemporary interior and a gaze shaped by modernity.
Bwami Cult - Iginga
It is here an authentic Iginga Lega statuette, a prestigious typology closely tied to the Bwami cult, one of the most structuring initiation institutions of Lega society. Bwami is not a mere ritual framework: it organizes the transmission of knowledge, social hierarchy, ethics, and philosophy of the group, through a graduated progression marked by trials, teachings, and objects of power. In this context, Iginga figures occupy a central place: true supports of memory and values, they embody moral principles, models of conduct, and symbolic authority associated with high ranks. Their presence was neither decorative nor incidental; they intervened at specific moments of initiatory life, served as emblems and pedagogical instruments, and materialized, through their condensed form and deliberately essential design, a power and knowledge reserved for initiates. Owning an ancient Iginga, with a patina marked and a mastered sculpture, therefore means preserving a tangible fragment of this major institution, where art is never separated from meaning, rank, and transmission.
The item will be carefully packaged.
Shipping within 24 hours, tracking number provided to track your package, plus insurance.
African art - Tribal art - Primitive art - Statue - Figure - Mask - Congo - Zaire - African art - Ethnic art - art deco - interior design - design - contemporary
Details
Indigenous object name
Rare Anthropomorphic Figure Iginga
Ethnic group/ culture
Lega
Country of Origin
DR Congo
Period
Early 20th century
Sold with stand
No
Condition
Excellent condition
Height
14 cm
Width
1 cm
Depth
1 cm
Weight
1 g
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