Figures (2) - Wood - Evolués - Bakongo - Congo DRC

Those Bakongo pair of figures represent the Évolué (French: [evɔlɥe], lit. "evolved" or "developed") , it is a French label used during the colonial era to refer to a native African who had "evolved" by becoming Europeanised through education or assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behavior.
since the end of the XIXTh century missionaries changed Congo society in a tremendous way , from a rural way of life, where people lived in villages, to a modern urbanized society.
H= 29 cm and 31 cm

The blackened wood has some cracks ( some are filled, see pictures ) .