Ngbaka anthropomorphic figure - Lot 130

Lot n° 130
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Estimation :
600 - 1200 EUR
Ngbaka anthropomorphic figure - Lot 130
Ngbaka anthropomorphic figure Oubangi, Democratic Republic of Congo Carved wood Early 20th century Height: 37 cm Provenance : Ex Jo de Buck collection, Brussels The spiritual conception of the peoples of the southern Ubangi, such as the Ngbandi and Ngbaka, revolves around the figure of Gale, creator god of the primordial ancestor Setu and his sister Nabo. Gale, the creator god of the primordial ancestor Setu and his sister Nabo. Setu is often perceived as the first man, the one who establishes world order and initiates social and ritual structures. social and ritual structures. He is at the origin of the transmission of knowledge, notably that linked initiation rites such as gaza or ganza (literally, "that which gives strength"). Through his example, he defines the values of courage, mastery and responsibility that underpin adult identity. Nabo, his sister, is associated with fertility, continuity of lineage and vital forces. Less often represented than Setu, she is nonetheless essential to the essential to the myth, for it is through the complementarity of brother and sister that human human society according to divine order. In some stories, the young boys' journey of initiation symbolically re-enacts Setu's, reactivating the ancestral link between the living and their mythical origins. In contrast to this ideal figure, Ngbirondo emerges as a character often evoked in oral traditions. Ngbirondo embodies the antithesis of the initiated man. irreverent, impulsive and sometimes grotesque, he represents the man who rejects the established order or fails to integrate gaza norms. Through his deviant behavior, he serves as a counter-model, paradoxically helping to reinforce the values conveyed by initiation. Installed at the entrance to the village to ensure its protection, this anthropomorphic effigy represents the transgressive Ngbirondo spirit, whose presence on the bangs of community space reminds us of the limits that must not be crossed. The straight, cylindrical body rests on short short legs, while the arms with their fan-shaped fingers are glued to the torso, framing the swollen umbilical zone. A fine treatment of the back, whose double engraved line suggests muscularity. The shoulders, with their sharp edges, support a robust neck, from which emerges a round head, whose schematic face face takes shape through two concave cavities representing the eye sockets,
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