Coupe, Kuba, République Démocratique du Congo

Acquis in situ par Joseph Christiaens, ca. 1968
Collection Joseph Christiaens, Bruxelles

Bruxelles, Palais des Beaux Arts, Utotombo. L'Art d'Afrique noire dans les collections privées belges, 25 mars - 5 juin 1988

Debbaut, Favart et Van Geertruyen, Utotombo. Kunst uit Zwart-Afrika in Belgisch prive-bezit, 1988, p. 223, n° 202
Debbaut, Favart et Van Geertruyen, Utotombo. L'Art d'Afrique noire dans les collections privées belges, 1988, p. 223, n° 202

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Ce joyau illustre la quintessence d'un art royal Kuba dont les réceptacles comptèrent parmi les plus illustres manifestations. 

Réservées à l'usage des membres de la famille royale et des notables, les coupes à vin de palme céphalomorphes constituaient pour les artistes royaux Kuba et ceux des peuples apparentés, des exercices de virtuosité établissant leur prestige et celui de leurs commanditaires. Les coupes anthropomorphes - qui ne se résument pas à la seule représentation de la tête - sont extrêmement rares, et plus encore celles qui, comme ici, en offrent une interprétation magistrale. 

Sa dimension exceptionnelle (notamment l'ampleur de la tête), tout autant que la sensibilité de chaque détail du visage exaltant les canons de la beauté Kuba, l'apparentent très étroitement à la coupe anthropomorphe masculine de la collection Frum (Sotheby’s, Paris, 2 décembre 2015, n° 25). Leur saisissant rapprochement permet de les attribuer au même atelier, voire au même artiste. Acquise à Lubumbashi et réputée provenir de Mushenge, capitale du royaume Kuba, cette coupe pourrait avoir été la contrepartie masculine de la coupe Frum. Elles auraient servies, ensemble, de mbwoong imabaang, coupes royales à vin de palme. S'y ajoutent la beauté du décor en champlevé ornant le cou, et les traces de la poudre rouge de tukula conservées dans les creux de la gravure, rappelant avec la profondeur de la patine, sa grande ancienneté et le soin qui lui était porté.  

Kuba anthropomorphic cup, Democratic Republic of the Congo

This extraordinary vessel embodies the epitome of royal Kuba art, within which cups are among the most highly regarded specimens.  

A preserve of members of the royal family and high-ranking dignitaries, cephalomorphic palm-wine cups were, for royal artists at the Kuba court and at those of related peoples, virtuoso feats establishing both their own prestige and that of their sponsors. Anthropomorphic cups — which are not confined to representations of heads — are extremely rare, especially those which, like the one at hand, display such masterly craftsmanship. 

Its exceptional size (particularly the scale of the head), as well as the sensitivity in every detail of the face, exalting the canons of Kuba beauty, link it closely to the male anthropomorphic cup from the Frum Collection. (Sotheby’s, Paris, 2 December 2015, No. 25). Their striking similarity strongly suggests that they were crafted within the same workshop and possibly by the same artist.  Acquired in Lubumbashi and deemed to have originally come from Mushenge, the capital of the Kuba kingdom, this cup may have been the female counterpart of the Frum cup. Together they likely served as mbwoong imabaang, royal palm-wine cups. Its importance is compounded by the beauty of the champlevé decoration adorning the neck, as well as traces of red tukula powder preserved in the hollow of the engraving - its deep patina is also a mark of its great age and of the care that was taken in its handling.