Female beauty and power is the pervasive theme of much of the artwork of the classical Luba Kingdom of Central Africa. According to Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts: “Luba people say that only a woman’s body is strong enough to contain a powerful spirit like a king’s, so sculpture dedicated to kingship is almost always female in gender.” (Memory: Luba Art and the Making of History, 1996, p. 42) Elaborate hairstyles and complex patterns of scarification on female figures are representative of those actually borne by high-ranking Luba individuals, and fleshy, youthful physiognomy is depicted with flowing, fluid lines and gracefully rounded surfaces.
The depiction of beauty in Luba Art is of moral and religious significance. Like other Central African sculptural traditions, a figural sculpture was thought to be a locus where a sprit might temporarily settle; for the Luba in particular, the beauty of the sculpture would attract desirable spirits, as would a rich assortment of accoutrements, as in the present figure. The present figure poses in a quiet gesture of gesture of meditative reverence, with her hands upon her breasts, and heavily-lidded eyes closed or looking downwards, present in the physical world but connected to the world of spirits.
The highly refined sculpture of the Luba has been admired in the West since the 19th century. Roberts and Roberts further note that “Because of resonances with European notions of value and ‘elegance’, Luba artistic forms have been celebrated among the greatest of African artistic traditions.” (Luba, 2007, p. 12).
For a statue of closely related facial features see a Luba female statue is in the British Museum, London (inv. no. 1910-441, accessioned in 1910, Roberts and Roberts 1997: 84, cat. 31).
Provenance:
- Lucas Ratton, Paris, France
- Zemanek Munster, Wurzburg, Germany
Published:
- Zemanek-Münster, "84th Tribal Art Auction", Würzburg, Germany, 5 November 2016. Lot 421. Est. € 6.000-12.000
David Malík PhD
Founder/Director
