fetish statue - BATEKE - DR Congo (No reserve price)

Old wooden fetish statue of the Batéké from Bandundu province in the DRC. The neck is bejeweled with beads, and on the belly one can see the "NOVUM". A cavity at the level of the navel is covered with a glass plate containing magical powers to contact the spirits of his ancestors.
Mid-20th century. Good condition. Old patina. With certificate.

Belgian private collection of

Maurice C.P. Verstuyf (born Etterbeek 1949) graduated in the Plastic Arts, Graphics department, at the Higher Sint-Lukas Institute in Schaerbeek (Brussels) in 1971.
Maurice C.P. Verstuyf aka Stef Verstuyf was until 2014 art director and creative director in several international advertising agencies and started his collection of tribal art in the early 1970s. This collection consists of masks and statues (no weapons), mainly from Congo (DRC) and also from Gabon, Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Cameroon and Nigeria.