A rare and important Luluwa Half-figure, Western Kasaï, Democratic Republic of the Congo

bwanga bwa cibola, the muscular torso with bent arms held tightly to the sides and rounded chest beneath the large head deeply carved with hemispherical eyes and brass tacks for pupils framing the nose with flared nostrils, full lips and undulating scarification at the cheeks, the plaited coiffure with a raised finial at the crown; rich deep brown and encrusted patina.

E. Gustave de Hondt, Brussels, by 1938
Helena Rubinstein, Paris and New York
Parke-Bernet Galleries, The Helena Rubinstein Collection, New York, April 21, 1966, lot 228
Acquired at the above auction

Stadsfeestzaal aan de Meir, Antwerp, Tentoonstelling van Kongo-Kunst, December 24, 1937 - January 16, 1938, no. 276
The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, African Art in Westchester from Private Collections, April 24 – June 6, 1971
Pace Gallery, New York, African Spirit Images and Identities, April 24 - May 29, 1976
C. W. Post Art Gallery, Greenvale, New York, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, February 17 – March 30, 1980

Frans Olbrechts, Plastiek van Kongo, Antwerp, 1946, pl. XVIII-93
The Hudson River Museum (ed.), African Art in Westchester from Private Collections, Yonkers, 1971, cat. 236 (unillustrated)
Leon Siroto and Bryce Holcombe (eds.), African Spirit Images and Identities, New York, 1976, p. 99, cat. 145 (unillustrated)
Susan M. Vogel, African Sculpture: The Shape of Surprise, New York, 1980, p. 46, cat. 154 (unillustrated)

Good condition overall; navel restored (after the publication in 1946 the navel must have been misinterpreted as phallus, possibly by Helena Rubinstein herself, and was subsequently hidden by the addition of a cup as seen in the 1966 auction catalogue; the cup was now removed and the navel restored to its original form as visible in the 1946 photograph); minor nicks and scratches from handling.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Rosenthal Luluwa half-figure is one of an exceptionally small corpus depicting a female torso terminating in a tapered staff. Of the known examples, most are in museum collections, including the famous maternity in the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn (formerly in the collection of Arthur Blondiau, Brussels, before 1945, accession no. '50.124'); a second and a third in the Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren (accession no. 'RG 9446' was donated in 1912, accession no. 'RG 18806' was collected for the museum by H. Morlighem in 1934); and a forth in The Buffalo Museum of Science, which was acquired from Carel van Lier in 1938. Like the Rosenthal example, the Buffalo figure, as well as a fifth figure published by Timmermans (1966: 24, fig. 11), do not carry a child.

The rarity of this genre is determined by two factors. First, the half-figures were created for an elite class of Luluwa women. When by the end of the 19th century machinations within Luluwa culture and Western influence limited the power of these women, the circle of the elite tightened dramatically. Second, in traditional times these carvings were often either destroyed once the woman was no longer associated with the cult, or they were buried with their owner (Met: 2006).

As distinguished by Timmermans (ibid.), there are two important regional sub-styles represented in Luluwa figurative works—the Bakwa Mushilu and the Bakwa Ndolo. The Rosenthal figure is of the more refined Bakwa Mushilu style, which is characterized by large, rounded heads and planear, as opposed to exopthalmic, eyes.

The Rosenthal figure is polyvalent, having significant symbolic meaning operating at many levels of Luluwa socio-religious thought and action. Created for the bwanga bwa cibola cult, this figure would have been prescribed by a diviner (mubuki) as part of an overall ritual program for women with a history of miscarriages or post-natal deaths. The standing sculptures utilized by the cult were placed in a basket next to the woman's bed; the half-figures were attached to an apron or belt. "Because they were rubbed-in nearly daily with a mixture of oil, red earth and kaolin - and then subsequently removed - the sculptures gradually acquired a glossy patina" (Petridis 1995: 333).

Highly symbolic, one of the most notable physical attributes is the extended umbilical hernia. It is a visual metaphor for the "line" to the ancestors and the importance of fecundity as a continuation of successive generations. The double-waved lines at her forehead (mwoyo wa munda) "stand for the life in the human body, specifically the heart beating in the breast and the child growing within the womb. [...The figure's] exopthalmic eyes with emphatically stressed pupils refer to the particular endowment of being able to detect the malevolent intention of bewitchers or others in time to avoid harm" (Petridis, loc. cit.). The artist has paid particular attention to the treatment of the peaked coiffure (a documented style of 19th century Luluwa women) to create a visual counterbalance to the umbilicus, joining ideas of strong intelligence, perception, and thoughtful beauty to the realm of fertility and vitality.