Ɵ Nedumu Harp, Mangbetu People, North-West... - Lot 62 - Giquello

Lot 62
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60000 - 80000 EUR
Ɵ Nedumu Harp, Mangbetu People, North-West... - Lot 62 - Giquello
Ɵ Nedumu Harp, Mangbetu People, North-West of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Wood with black and lacquered patina, antelope skin, beads H. 40.6 cm Nedumu Harp, Mangbetu People, North-West of the Democratic Republic of the Congo H.16 in Provenance: - Collection Jacques Kercharche, Paris - Collection Jean-Claude Bellier, Paris - Lance Entwistle, London - Private collection Originally from ancient Nubia, the Mangbetu people settled in the 17th century on a vast plateau covered with dense forest along the Bomokandi River. The heyday of the kingdom was in 1870, when King Mounza succeeded in driving out the Arab conquerors from Sudan. Mangbetu art as seen in museums and private collections is only the tip of the Mangbetu aesthetic universe. Architecture, music, sculpture, body arts, handicrafts, all fields of creation were at the service of the search for beauty in order to celebrate the harmony of the Mangbetu society and the power of its supreme emanation, the king. While thousands of objects of extreme refinement were produced by the royal workshops, no masks were ever carved and very few cult statuettes. From the explorer Schweinfurth to the photographer Zagourski, many European travellers have paid unanimous and heartfelt tribute to the beauty of this Central African world. The harp in the Bellier collection is exceptional and is part of a very small group that shows standing figures. If the lengthening of the skull is a constant in the culture of the Mangbetu who practiced it at every birth, the style of the face indicates the intervention of a sculptor from Nsakara, a neighbouring ethnic group whose artists were often solicited by the Court. The woman's left arm was voluntarily sacrificed to allow the keys needed to tune the instrument to be fixed. The resonance box, made with great care, is traditionally pierced with two gills. The beautiful black patina, lacquered in places, which covers
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