id: 168755 accession number: 2010.457 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.457 updated: 2022-09-10 11:46:22.351000 Half-Figure, late 1800s–early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, probably Kusu-style maker. Wood and iron; overall: 20 x 6.8 x 8.5 cm (7 7/8 x 2 11/16 x 3 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.457 title: Half-Figure 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 the Congo, probably Kusu-style maker technique: Wood and iron department: African Art collection: African Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 20 x 6.8 x 8.5 cm (7 7/8 x 2 11/16 x 3 3/8 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). title: Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths opening date: 2018-06-03T04:00:00 Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (June 3-December 30, 2018); National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC (February 10-October 20, 2019); Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (November 10, 2019-August 16, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, before 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: This figure would have been used in a powerful association known as Bugabo, specializing in healing, hunting, and fighting crime. digital description: Iron tacks inserted into the lobes of the hairdo indicate that this sculpture was originally empowered with magical and medicinal substances. Thus charged, the figure would have been used in divination and was related to a powerful association known as Bugabo. Members specialized in healing, hunting, and fighting crime. wall description: This torso is believed to be carved in the style of the Kusu people, closely related but little-known neighbors of the Luba. In fact, the figure's facial traits and coiffure are characteristic of Luba art. Iron tacks inserted into the lobes of the hairdo indicate that the sculpture was originally empowered with magical and medicinal substances. Thus charged, the figure would have been used in divination and was related to a powerful association known as Bugabo, popular during early colonial times among various peoples in eastern Congo; members specialized in healing, hunting, and fighting crime. Other such sculptures once topped gourds, and some rare complete examples have survived, but this was most likely never the case for this figure. --- 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, 84. page number: Mentioned: pp. 81, 114; reproduced: p. 85, cat. 29 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.457/2010.457_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.457/2010.457_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.457/2010.457_full.tif