id: 168742 accession number: 2010.447 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.447 updated: 2023-08-24 00:44:50.556000 Scepter, late 1800s–early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of Congo, probably Kongo-style (Yombe sub-group) carver. Ivory; overall: 28 x 2.5 x 4 cm (11 x 1 x 1 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.447 title: Scepter 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, Democratic Republic of Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of Congo, probably Kongo-style (Yombe sub-group) carver technique: ivory department: African Art collection: African Art type: Implements find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 28 x 2.5 x 4 cm (11 x 1 x 1 9/16 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, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014). title: African Master Carvers: Known and Famous opening date: 2017-03-26T04:00:00 African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, BE (March 25-June 5, 1988) --- PROVENANCE (René De Wolf, Brussels, BE, before 1972, sold to René and Odette Delenne) date: ?-1972 footnotes: citations: René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1972-2010 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 date: 2010 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Scepters often represent the chief sitting atop a bound prisoner or attribute to a violent death. digital description: Used by male chiefs, ivory scepters were symbols of status indicating worldly authority and supernatural influence. The use of ivory implies that the chief has the fatal power of an elephant. The figurine shows a chief enthroned on the bound body of a criminal destined for such a death. A medicine package would have been enclosed within the container extending from the figure’s head, bestowing supernatural powers. wall description: Used by male chiefs, ivory scepters were both symbols of status that indicated worldly authority and religious emblems that suggested supernatural influence. In Yombe society until the early 1900s, the aggressive side of a chief’s authority was dramatized in spectacular public executions. These scepters depict a chief enthroned on the bound body of a criminal destined for such a death. The use of ivory implies that the chief has the fatal power of an elephant. His hairstyle most likely derives from that worn by Portuguese sailors, and he chews a bitter root locally known as munkwisa, administered to persons suspected of witchcraft. A package of various medicines mixed with a resinous material would have been enclosed within the container extending from the figure’s head. Thus charged with potent ingredients, the scepters endowed their owners with specific supernatural powers. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Bastin, Marie-Louise, et al. 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, 205. Exh. Cat. Brussels: Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, March 25-June 5, 1988. page number: Reproduced and mentioned: p. 205, cat. 163 url: Lehuard, Raoul. Art Bakongo. Insigne de pouvorir. Le scepter 4. Arnouville, FR: Arts d'Afrique Noire, 1998, 962-963. page number: Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 962-963, no. M3 url: Petridis, Constantine. "René and Odette Delenne." In Tribal Art XV-4, no. 61 (Autumn 2011): 121. page number: Reproduced: p. 121, fig. 6 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013 page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 12 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-05/page/12 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, 24, 41,45, 112. page number: Mentioned: pp. 24, 112-113; reproduced: p. 45, cat. 9 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.447/2010.447_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.447/2010.447_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.447/2010.447_full.tif