Plaster cast of a scarified torso - Lot 84

Lot n° 84
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Estimation :
100 - 200 EUR
Plaster cast of a scarified torso - Lot 84
Plaster cast of a scarified torso Kuba, Kasai region, Democratic Republic of Congo Plaster H. 46 cm Impression made in situ in 1910 by a Belgian ethnologist The present copy is a contemporary print Provenance : Private collection, France Exhibition: "Crossing Mirrors", Rosenblum Art Foundation, Paris, 2013 This plaster cast represents the scarified torso of a young Kuba man. It reproduces in high relief the complex patterns of body decoration - scarifications closely linked to initiation rites marking the passage to adulthood in Kuba society. The geometric patterns visible on this cast closely echo the sophisticated designs found on Kuba raffia textiles, testifying to an aesthetic language common to different media. This piece is a contemporary print from a series originally conceived by a Belgian ethnologist affiliated with the Royal Museum of the Belgian Congo (now the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren), who carried out extensive fieldwork in the Kasai basin in the early 20th century. His work is documented in two major studies by E. Torday and T. A. Joyce: Notes ethnographiques sur les peuples communément appelés Bakuba ainsi que sur les peuplades apparentées - les Bushongo(1911) and Notes ethnographiques sur les populations habitant les bassins du Kassai et du Kwango oriental (1912).
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