An ancient polychrome mbumba bwiti reliquary figure, with a - Lot 51

An ancient polychrome mbumba bwiti reliquary figure, with a beautiful presence, large eyes in glass lamellae, characteristic of the corpus, set in resin, and wearing the ancient mitooki hairstyle with an axial parting and in four braided plaits, plaits here carved openwork and entirely tinted Guimet blue. It's also worth noting that it's part of a workshop style center where the sculptors treated the chins as flattened. For mbumba with comparable openwork headdresses, see: Lumbu, un art sacré, 2016, fig. 84, 97, 99 or 105. Lumbu, Gabon Wood, glass, resin, pigments, significant old oxidation, accidents, holes, visible wear and missing parts (woodborers), very fine old patina. Height: 48cm Provenance: Jacques Viault Collection Jacques Viault Collection, acquired in Mayumba