An imposing polychrome mbumba bwiti reliquary figure, having - Lot 50

An imposing polychrome mbumba bwiti reliquary figure, having retained its charge and mirror, with large eyes set with glass lamellae characteristic of this corpus and wearing the ancient mitooki hairstyle with an axial parting and in four braided plaits, here sculpted with openwork. Note that it is part of a workshop style center where the sculptors treated the chins as flattened. For other mbumba with comparable openwork headdresses, see: Lumbu, un art sacré, 2016, fig. 84, 97, 99 or 105. Lumbu, Gabon Wood, glass, pigments, resin, wear and significant old oxidation and surface delamination, small visible accidents and missing parts, beautiful old patina. Height: 60cm Provenance: Jacques Viault Collection, acquired in Mayumba