HACHE LUBA DE PRESTIGE, KIBIKI OU KASOLWA,... - Lot 61 - Binoche et Giquello

Prestigious Luba adze, Kibiki or Kasolwa, Studio of middle Luvua, Democratic Republic of the Congo
H. 14.9 in - W. 10.2 in
Provenance:
- Commandant Charles Liebrechts (1858-1938), collectée en 1886
- René Withofs, Bruxelles
- Baudouin de Grunne, Bruxelles
- Bernard de Grunne, Bruxelles
- Collection privée
Exhibition:
- Arts Primitifs, Théâtre National, Bruxelles, 1971
- Utotombo - L'Art de l'Afrique Noire dans les Collections Privées Belges, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 25 mars - 5 juin 1988
- Luba - Aux Sources du Zaire, Musée Dapper, Paris, 25 novembre 1993 - 17 avril 1994
- Genesis - Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 novembre 2002 - 13 avril 2003
- The Inner Eye: Vision and Transcendence in African Arts, LACMA, 26 février - 9 juillet 2017
Bibliography:
- Adriaan Claerhout, Arts Primitifs, Brussels, Théâtre National, 1971, n°42
- Gerald Berjonneau, and Jean-Louis Sonnery, Rediscovered Masterpieces of African Art, Boulogne, Art 135, 1987, p. 265, plate 264
- Luc et al De Heusch, Utotombo: Kunst uit Zwart-Afrika in Belgisch Privé-Bezit. Bruxelles, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1988, p. 233, n°222
- Jacques Kerchache, Jean-Louis Paudrat and Lucien Stephan, L'Art Africain, L'Art et les Grandes Civilisations. 18, Paris, Editions Mazenod, 1988. Traduction anglaise, Art of Africa, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1993, n°1017
- François Neyt, Luba - Aux Sources du Zaire, Paris, Musée Dapper, 1993, p. 114
- Philippe Guimiot, Regard Sur une Collection, Bruxelles, Art et Objects Tribaux II, 1995, n°30
- Holland Cotter, A Show Bursting Out, New York Times, 22 novembre 2002
- Alisa LaGamma, Genesis, Ideas of Origin in African Sculpture. New Haven and
London, Yale University Press, 2002, p. 50, n°17
The importance and the high degree of refinement in this piece of regalia have led to it being exhibited in prestigious exhibitions. It has appeared widely in publications and has been owned by well-known collectors. ‘The Twite set the king on the throne, a seat with a caryatid, took a spear and an axe from a raffia fabric bag and presented them to the king, who then held them in his hands... He spoke of the work of the blacksmiths, of his ancestors and their attachment to the kingdom'.
‘Metal objects reinforced the king's power, certainly in terms of wealth, but also on the relational level. Metalworking is closely linked to life and fecundity.' F. Neyt, Luba, Dapper, 1993, n°107. The image of women in the Luba culture was very important since women were both the repository of and links with spiritual power. Royal wives played a vital role in royal succession and in the distribution of land, in particular. As befits these powers, the head on the axe is female. Her face is slightly tilted, showing both her inwardness and very gentle expression. The Luba style is an art epitomised by harmoniously distributed curves. The figure's cross-shaped headdress, decorated with a nail in the lower part, makes a very beautiful effect. The head rests on a ringed neck, which is quite unusual in axes like these, prolonging the cylindrical handle, which is tapered in the middle for extra elegance. The oval and protuberant base features an abstract decoration made up of engraved, slanted and embossed ribs and a series of brass nails with cone-shaped heads around the outside. The thick iron blade has decorative incisions evoking the scarification worn by some Luba women. Some of the signs of use on the handle and the ears, as well as its smooth, black-brown patina are signs of old and regular handling, helping us to date it very probably to the 19th century.