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Female Figurine
late 1800s-early 1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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.
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Details
- Title: Female Figurine
- Date Created: late 1800s-early 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 17 x 5.8 x 4.2 cm (6 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.)
- Provenance: (Marcel Dumoulin, Brussels, BE, 1967, 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/2010.429
- Medium: Wood, possibly ceramic, and copper alloy
- Fun Fact: The carvings in the figure’s abdomen reflect the custom of body scarification among the Beembe people.
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Beembe people
- Credit Line: René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 2010.429
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