id: 168722 accession number: 2010.429 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.429 updated: 2023-03-22 03:04:44.006000 Female Figurine, late 1800s-early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Beembe-style maker. Wood, possibly ceramic, and copper alloy; overall: 17 x 5.8 x 4.2 cm (6 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.429 title: Female Figurine title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: late 1800s-early 1900s creation date earliest: 1880 creation date latest: 1920 current location: creditline: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund copyright: --- culture: Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Beembe-style maker technique: Wood, possibly ceramic, and copper alloy department: African Art collection: African Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 17 x 5.8 x 4.2 cm (6 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture opening date: 2013-10-27T00:00:00 Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * --- PROVENANCE (Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, 1967, sold to René and Odette Delenne) date: ?-1967 footnotes: citations: René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1967-2010 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 date: 2010 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The carvings in the figure’s abdomen reflect the custom of body scarification among the Beembe people. digital description: Beembe figurines generally have greatly detailed anatomical and decorative features. The scarification among Beembe men and women communicated their ideas about local beauty and ethnic belonging. These figures are charged with an ancestor’s spirit through a mixture of resin and human-derived ingredients—taken from the corpse of the person they possibly portray—into a small cavity near the rectum. wall description: Whether female or male, Beembe figurines generally have greatly detailed anatomical and decorative features—especially hairstyles and abdominal scarification marks—as well as a shiny, lustrous patina. The characteristic scars that were in vogue among Beembe men and women until the 1950s communicated their ideas about local beauty and ethnic belonging. Used to protect its owner’s well-being, such a Beembe figurine was charged with an ancestor’s spirit or life force through a mixture of resin and mostly human-derived ingredients taken from the corpse of the person it possibly portrays; the substance was inserted into a small cavity near the sculpture’s rectum. The staring eyes, made with shards of white porcelain, allude to the figurine’s ability to access the realm of the dead. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The René and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 25, 34. page number: Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 34, 112 cat. no. 1 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.429/2010.429_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.429/2010.429_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.429/2010.429_full.tif