id:			163924
accession number:	2005.3
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2005.3
updated:		2023-08-24 00:08:14.415000

Figure (iginga), probably 1800s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lega-style maker. Elephant ivory, tukula, and oil; overall: 16.7 x 5.5 x 4.5 cm (6 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2005.3

title:				Figure (iginga)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			probably 1800s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1899
current location:		
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lega-style maker
technique:	Elephant ivory, tukula, and oil
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 16.7 x 5.5 x 4.5 cm (6 9/16 x 2 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Language of Beauty in African Art
	opening date:   2022-04-03T04:00:00
	<i>The Language of Beauty in African Art</i>. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (April 3-July 31, 2022) https://kimbellart.org/exhibition/language-beauty-african-art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 20, 2022-February 27, 2023) https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9344/the-language-of-beauty-in-african-art.

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Charles Ratton, Paris, France
	date: ca. 1950s
	footnotes: 	
			
			* 
			
			
	citations: 	


	Guy Ladriere, Paris, France
	date: no date recorded
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Pierre Dartevelle, Paris, France
	date: ca. 1980-1983
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Vranken-Hoet Collection, Brussels, Belgium
	date: 1983-2005
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by purchase
	date: 2005 to present
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
The life of Lega men and women is structured around their advancement through the different grades of the Bwami association. Fulfilling political, social, religious, and other roles, the members’ ultimate purpose is the pursuit of wisdom and excellence. Ivory figurines were reserved for members of the two highest Bwami grades, in which the core of the Lega’s moral philosophy is revealed.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Rachewiltz, Boris de. <em>Arte Africana. </em>[Rome]: [Istituto Grafico Tiberino], 1967.
	page number: 	14-15
	url:		

	Debbaut, Jan, Dominique Favart, and G. van Geertruyen. <em>Utotombo: l'art d'Afrique noire dans les collections privées belges : Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 25 mars-5 juin 1988</em>. Bruxelles: Palais des beaux-arts, 1988.
	page number: 	243, cat. 246
	url:		

	Cornet, Joseph, Angelo Turconi, and Mobutu Sese Seko. <em>Zaire: peuples/art/culture. Anvers: Fonds Mercator</em>, 1989.
	page number: 	120.
	url:		

	Biebuyck, Daniel P., and Michel Boulanger.<em> Ethique et beauté Lega au cœur de l'Afrique</em>. Bruxelles: Snoeck-Ducaju, 2002.
	page number: 	152, cat. 91
	url:		

	Cleveland Museum of Art.<em> Annual Report.</em> Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 2006.
	page number: 	22, 30
	url:		

	etridis, Constantine. "Good and Beautiful." <em>Cleveland Museum of Art Member's Magazine</em>. Cleveland Museum of Art, September 2006.
	page number: 	7-11
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2006-07

	Petridis, Constantine. "New Acquisitions of African Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art". <em>African Arts</em>. (44) No. 1, Spring 2011.
	page number: 	53; 56, Fig. 4.
	url:		

	Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann<em>. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.
	page number: 	240-1
	url:		

	Felix, Marc Leo. <em>White gold, black hands: ivory sculpture in Congo</em>. Qiquhar, Heilungkiang, China: Gemini Sun, Volume 6, June 2013.
	page number: 	Fig. 27a & b, p. 190-191, 242
	url:		

	Rondeau, James, Constantijn Petridis, Yaëlle Biro, Herbert M. Cole, Kassim Kone, Babatunde Lawal, Wilfried Van Damme, and Susan Mullin Vogel. <em>The language of beauty in African art. </em>2022.
	page number: 	
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.3/2005.3_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.3/2005.3_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.3/2005.3_full.tif