{
"data": {
"id": 168757,
"accession_number": "2010.459",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Pair of Figures, late 1800s\u2013early 1900s. Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, probably Ngbandi-style carver. Wood, iron alloy, copper alloy, glass beads, plant fiber, and cloth; part 1: 45 x 15.5 x 9.2 cm (17 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 3 5/8 in.); part 2: 41 x 13 x 11.5 cm (16 1/8 x 5 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 2010.459",
"current_location": "108A African",
"title": "Pair of Figures",
"creation_date": "late 1800s\u2013early 1900s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1880,
"creation_date_latest": -1920,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, probably Ngbandi-style carver"
],
"technique": "Wood, iron alloy, copper alloy, glass beads, plant fiber, and cloth",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "African Art",
"collection": "African Art",
"type": "Sculpture",
"measurements": "Part 1: 45 x 15.5 x 9.2 cm (17 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 3 5/8 in.); Part 2: 41 x 13 x 11.5 cm (16 1/8 x 5 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"part 1": {
"height": 0.45,
"height_inch": 17,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.6875,
"width": 0.155,
"width_inch": 6,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.125,
"depth": 0.092,
"depth_inch": 3,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.625
},
"part 2": {
"height": 0.41,
"height_inch": 16,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.125,
"width": 0.13,
"width_inch": 5,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.125,
"depth": 0.115,
"depth_inch": 4,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 338062,
"title": "Afrikanische Kunstwerke: Kulturen am Niger",
"description": "Afrikanische Kunstwerke: Kulturen am Niger. Villa H\u00fcgel (March 25-June 13, 1971).",
"opening_date": "1971-03-25T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 202001,
"title": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture",
"description": "Fragments of the Invisible: The Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014).",
"opening_date": "2013-10-27T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Kunsthaus Z\u00fcrich, Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland (October 31, 1970 - February 10, 1971)",
"opening_date": "1970-10-31T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, BE (March 25-June 5, 1988)",
"opening_date": "1988-03-25T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (July 7-September 30, 1990)",
"opening_date": "1990-07-07T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands (November-January 1991)",
"opening_date": "1991-11-01T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, FR, June 2000",
"opening_date": "2000-06-01T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Jef and Ren\u00e9 Vanderstraete, Lasne, BE, sold to Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131959",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Ren\u00e9 [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1959\u20132010",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "2010\u2013",
"sortorder": 3
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Few examples of Ngbandi sculpture exist, and even fewer retain their adornments.",
"description": "These paired wooden figures are adorned with metal, bead, and shell ornaments at the ears, waists, and ankles. An ornament on the male's upper arm may identify him as a warrior. Each figure has a series of vertically aligned bumps on the forehead. These represent highly raised keloid scars that were culturally meaningful forms of body modification. Carving of paired figures is quite well documented among the Ngbandi and their neighbors, the Ngbaka-Minagende, where such sculptures are said to represent the mythical ancestor Seto and his sister-wife, Nabo. Field-based research cannot confirm the existence of figurative couples among the Ngbandi.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80075142"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2010.459-pair-of-figures"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Leuzinger, Elsy. Afrikanische Kunstwerke: Kulturen am Niger, exh. cat. (March 25-June 13, 1971), Villa H\u00fcgel, Essen, Belgium. Recklinghausen: Verlag Aurel Bongers, 1971 [p. 335, cat. X27]",
"page_number": "",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Leuzinger, Elsy. Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika, 331. Exh. Cat. Recklinghausen: Verlag Aurel Bongers, in association with Kunsthaus Z\u00fcrich, October 31, 1970-February 10, 1971.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 331, cat. x27",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Bastin, Marie-Louise, et al. Utotombo. L'Art d'Afrique noire dans les collections priv\u00e9es belges: Socie\u0301te\u0301 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 25 mars-5 juin 1988, 248, 309. Exh. Cat. Brussels: Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, March 25-June 5, 1988.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 248; mentioned: p. 309, cat. 257-258",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk, ed. Ubangi. Art et cultures au Coeur de l'Afrique, 154-155. Exh. Cat. Brussels: Fonds Mercator, in association with Afrika Museum, October 13, 2007-March 31, 2008.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: 154-155, fig. 4.17",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine. \"Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne.\" In Tribal Art XV-4, no. 61 (Autumn 2011): 120.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 120, fig. 5",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Franklin, David. \"Recent acquisitions (2005-11) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.\" In The Burlington Magazine 154, no. 1312 (July 2012): 525.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 525, fig. I",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/23232806"
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 10-11",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-05/page/10"
},
{
"citation": "Petridis, Constantine, et al. Fragments of the Invisible: The Rene\u0301 and Odette Delenne Collection of Congo Sculpture. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2013, 26, 89, 94-95.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 12, 26, 89-91, 108, 114 ; reproduced: pp. 33, 94-95, cat. 32",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: P. 38",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Bangerter, Walter, and Elsy Leuzinger. Afrikanische Kunstwerke: Kulturen am Niger, 335. Exh. Cat. Recklinghausen: Verlag Aurel Bongers, in association with Villa H\u00fcgel, March 25-June 13, 1971.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 335, cat. no. X 27",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Heymer, Kay, and Siegfried Gohr. Afrikanische Skulptur: Die Erfindung der Figur, 200. Exh. Cat. Cologne: Museum Ludwig, July 7-September 30, 1990.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 200, fig. 95",
"url": null
}
],
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"creditline": "Ren\u00e9 and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund",
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"athena_id": 168757,
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"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2006-06-05T00:00:00",
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"updated_at": "2026-05-29 08:40:51.022000"
}
}