Banda Ngbaka figure - Ngbaka - DR Congo
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€ 1
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Selected by Dimitri André
Holds a postgraduate degree in African studies and 15 years experience in African art.
Estimate € 220 - € 250
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Description from the seller
This beautiful African statue with a highly stylized appearance comes from the Ubangi region, where many ethnic groups live together, across the DR Congo and the Central African Republic. Among the best-known groups are the Azande, the Ngbandi, the Mangbetu, the Ngbaka, and the Banda. Although it is usually not easy to accurately identify a piece from this region, given the geographic and cultural complexity of ethnic groups, the typology of the piece I am proposing here makes it at least possible to attribute it to the Ngbaka or the Banda.
Located northwest of Ubangi, many Banda who arrived in the DR Congo were assimilated there, among others by the Ngbaka. Their artifacts were thus “ngbaka-ized” in this case. Numerous objects with Banda morphological features testify to this integration.
The figurines of this type came into play within the framework of initiations organized by secret societies responsible for circumcision, excision and thus the transition from childhood to adulthood, as we see in the contextual photo where a Banda teenager is circumcised.
In the work Ubangi, J.-L. GROOTAERS, Actes Sud, p. 177, we find a couple Ngbaka Banda figurines with very similar typology. Note, in the image on the left it is an original Banda figurine.
This beautiful African statue with a highly stylized appearance comes from the Ubangi region, where many ethnic groups live together, across the DR Congo and the Central African Republic. Among the best-known groups are the Azande, the Ngbandi, the Mangbetu, the Ngbaka, and the Banda. Although it is usually not easy to accurately identify a piece from this region, given the geographic and cultural complexity of ethnic groups, the typology of the piece I am proposing here makes it at least possible to attribute it to the Ngbaka or the Banda.
Located northwest of Ubangi, many Banda who arrived in the DR Congo were assimilated there, among others by the Ngbaka. Their artifacts were thus “ngbaka-ized” in this case. Numerous objects with Banda morphological features testify to this integration.
The figurines of this type came into play within the framework of initiations organized by secret societies responsible for circumcision, excision and thus the transition from childhood to adulthood, as we see in the contextual photo where a Banda teenager is circumcised.
In the work Ubangi, J.-L. GROOTAERS, Actes Sud, p. 177, we find a couple Ngbaka Banda figurines with very similar typology. Note, in the image on the left it is an original Banda figurine.
Details
Ethnic group/ culture
Ngbaka
Country of Origin
DR Congo
Period
Early 20th century
Material
wood, beads
Sold with stand
No
Condition
Fair condition
Title of artwork
Banda Ngbaka figure
Height
40 cm
Sold by
