Colon figure "bitumba" - D. R. Congo, Yombe
wood, pigments, glass, mirror glass,
"Bitumba" figures were placed in specially constructed burial houses and served to commemorate important deceased individuals. Some of these structures had only two or three walls; the open front allowed a view of the multicoloured figures, which were displayed on a table or altar. Offerings for the deceased were placed on this altar. Once the burial houses were no longer in use, they were left to fall into disrepair. The figures were subsequently either returned to the family’s possession, sold off, or left behind and allowed to decay.
H: 28 cm, H: 11,0 inch
Provenance:
Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Germany, 9 May 1981, lot 222
Galerie Fred & Jens Jahn, Munich, Germany
Walter Bareiss, Greenwich, USA & Salach, Germany
Guy van Rijn, Brussels, Belgium
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, Germany, 1 March 2008, lot 473
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Published In:
Jahn, Jens (ed.), Colon, München 1983, ill. 129
AHDRC: 0018587
Condition
See description
wood, pigments, glass, mirror glass,
"Bitumba" figures were placed in specially constructed burial houses and served to commemorate important deceased individuals. Some of these structures had only two or three walls; the open front allowed a view of the multicoloured figures, which were displayed on a table or altar. Offerings for the deceased were placed on this altar. Once the burial houses were no longer in use, they were left to fall into disrepair. The figures were subsequently either returned to the family’s possession, sold off, or left behind and allowed to decay.
H: 28 cm, H: 11,0 inch
Provenance:
Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Germany, 9 May 1981, lot 222
Galerie Fred & Jens Jahn, Munich, Germany
Walter Bareiss, Greenwich, USA & Salach, Germany
Guy van Rijn, Brussels, Belgium
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, Germany, 1 March 2008, lot 473
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Published In:
Jahn, Jens (ed.), Colon, München 1983, ill. 129
AHDRC: 0018587
Condition
See description
