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Female Figurine or Finial
late 1800s-early 1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This ivory figurine most likely served as the finial of a wooden staff or scepter, and owned and used by a high-ranking official or a ritual specialist. The combination of its features is quite unusual. The kneeling attitude is rather common and typically denotes respect. However, the position of the hands is anatomically incorrect with the thumbs toward the face. The idea of the striking hand gesture may refer to mourning.
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Details
- Title: Female Figurine or Finial
- Date Created: late 1800s-early 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 11 x 4 x 4 cm (4 5/16 x 1 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.)
- Provenance: (René De Wolf, Brussels, BE, before 1972, sold to René and Odette Delenne), René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.446
- Medium: Ivory and iron
- Fun Fact: The oversized hands with elongated fingers are positioned in an anatomically incorrect manner with the thumbs toward the face.
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (most likely), Cabinda, or Republic of the Congo, Kongo people
- Credit Line: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 2010.446
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