VENDU / SOLD ! MC1166 Superbe bouclier Songye - Congo - Songe Shield PROVENANCE
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PROVENANCE: Collection franco-belge de Mr Ph. V.
(Plus de détails sur demande)
Pour Joseph Cornet, ils étaient suspendus sur les murs de cases appartenant à la société Kifwebe et le petit masque central serait le gardien de cette case (Arts d'Afrique Noire, p264, voir biblio)
Dans "Shields" (p88, voir biblio), l'auteur évoque la possibilité qu'ils soient utilisés tels des drapeaux pour mener les guerriers au combat, ou encore comme cadeaux.
Caractéristiques:
TYPE D'OBJET: Bouclier ( Ngabo)
ETHNIE: Songye – Basongye.
ORIGINE: République Démocratique du Congo.
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CONGO DRC
BIG SONGYE SHIELD (Ngabo)
Adorned with the miniature representation of a Kifwebe mask
PROVENANCE: Ex - Franco - Belgian Collection of Mr Ph. V. (More details on request)
Large shield, with polychrome decoration of concentric lines alternating the three fetish colors of Basongye, white, red and black. The small central mask, carved in very high relief and framed by two small colored circles gives the object a remarkable dynamic. There is a handle on the back. Like most shields in both public and private collections, this one is carved in a light and soft wood essence
A shield with a very similar decoration, harvested by J Walraevens between 1895 and 1922, is preserved in the Tervuren Museum.
(Objets, signes de l'Afrique p169, n ° 5 inv.38302, see bibliography)
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According to Dunja Hersak and most of the authors, it seems almost certain that these shields were not intended for combat and served rather as symbolic and emblematic of power.
For Joseph Cornet, they were hanging on the walls of huts belonging to the Kifwebe society and the small central mask would be the guardian of this hut (Arts of Black Africa, p264, see bibliography)
In "Shields" (p88, see bibliography), the author evokes the possibility that they were used as flags to lead the warriors in combat, or as gifts.