Mask - Congo (No reserve price)

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Congolese art, sculpture and daily life, drum
Published 19/11/2011 at 21:30
By Fabrice Moustic
Cover of the article "Congolese art, sculpture and daily life, drum"
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Another acquisition is a "drummer" according to the seller's label, Olivier. The Kongo statue is rather crudely carved. The feet and legs in particular are disproportionate; there is no ornamentation on the body.

tambour-joueur-kongo-statue

Kongo drummer (wood, pigments,

But the overall impression of the statue faithfully and rudely echoes the image of the drummer, as one can see in old photographs.

tam-tam-congo-1950

Drummer in Congo, circa 1950 (Hoa-Gui postcard)

The only part more worked is the head of the statue. The face is covered with white pigment (kaolin) and the eyebrows seem outlined with black pigment. A headdress (or hair?) is suggested by incisions, forming a headband on the skull.

tambour-joueur-kongo-coiffure
Face of the drummer

The African drum, or tam-tam, is of course a generic term referring to multiple instruments of varying size and shape. The principle is to stretch a skin over a resonating box, from which sounds are produced by striking it with the

The drummer played an essential role in Kongo culture, so much so that some people today bear family names that evoke this percussion activity (like Ngoma).