Songye Power Figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo

with a strap around the waist made of Domestic Goat (Capra hircus) hide; an inventory number painted in white pigment on reverse: E081.

Michael Oliver, New York
Allan Stone, New York, acquired from the above on February 8, 1982

The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, Power Incarnate: Allan Stone's collects ion of Sculpture from the Congo, May 14 - September 4, 2011 

Kevin D. Dumouchelle, Power Incarnate: Allan Stone's collects ion of Sculpture from the Congo, Greenwich, Connecticut, 2011, p. 63, cat. 40

The present statue is distinguished by its highly refined style and exceptional artistic quality.  Using the "classic" Songye morphology as his point of departure, the diviner-sculptor of this large male figure has embarked on a sculptural tour-de-force and achieved a work of extraordinary beauty.  No less important is the ritual life of the wood sculpture, which was activated and augmented by the attachment and insertion of magical substances.

The form of the head is quite naturalistic as compared to the general Songye corpus, and is of unusually large size in proportion to the body.  The swollen belly flanked by symMetricas l arms, recalling the form of a Greek amphora, balances the mass of the head, inverted, below.  The legs, though covered by a fiber skirt, are fully realized in cubistic geometric masses, the powerful muscles of the thighs, calves and buttocks deliniated in angularly exaggerated planes. The large, paddle shaped feet all but cover the top of an integrally-carved cylindrical support.  The whole is rendered with an extreme attention to detail, as the natural forms are represented with subtle curves; these rounded shapes have been further refined by the action of ritual handing, and the figure has a polish overall showing its great age and extensive use.  That the statue was in such high demand for so long is testimony of its efficacy in bringing about desired outcomes.

A network of recessed reptacles for magic bishimba are carefully placed throughout: at the top of the head, between the shoulder blades, on the back of each hand, at the small of the back, and at the umbelicus. Notably, each of these is square in shape, though some are now worn from being charged and re-charged over t.mes .  The surface is smoothly worn throughout, polished from years of ceremonial anointment, and tiger-stripe bands of wood grain are heightened with ritually-applied oil.  The face is specked with verdegris of oxidizing metal, and seethes oil.  The large, almond-shaped eyes are composed of deep, hollow recesses encircled by delicate lines, these giving the figure a ghostly expression of gravitas.