Female Figure

early to mid-19th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

The elaborate hairstyle of this female figure identifies her as being of high social status. In her hands, she holds a drinking or medicinal horn and a bottle, possibly of imported schnapps, a further indication of her rank and wealth or of her role as a medium healer. Originally, the figure was probably wearing a cloth.

Medium

Wood, porcelain, resin, and metal

Dimensions

9 × 3 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (22.86 × 8.89 × 6.35 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Osborn for the Linton Collection of African Art

Accession Number

1955.61.18

Geography

Republic of the Congo, or Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Loango Coast, Angola

Culture

Yombe

Period

19th century

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Dr. Paul J. Güssfeldt (1840-1920), acquired 1872, as part of the Loango Expedition; Königliches Museum für Völkerkunde (Ethnologische Abteilung Koenigliches Museum), Berlin, by 1875, until at least 1908. Dr. Ralph Linton (1893–1953), by 1953 [see note 1]; by descent to his wife, Adelin Hohlfield Linton (1899–1977); sold to Marie-Louise Montgomery Osborn (1905–1968) and James Marshall Osborn (1906–1976), 1954; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.,1955

Note 1: Ralph Linton was the Sterling Professor of Anthropology at Yale from 1946 until his death in 1953.
This work appears on our "Artworks with Nazi-Era Provenance Documentation Gaps" page.
Bibliography
  • Frederick John Lamp, "Hot Space, Cool Space: The Reinstallation of the African Art Collection in the Louis Kahn Building at Yale University," African Arts 40 (Summer 2007), 51, fig. 18
  • Robert Farris Thompson, "Icons for the Brave and Generous: Kongo Art at Yale," in "African Art at Yale," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2005), 83–84, fig. 3–4
  • Robert Farris Thompson, Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American art and philosophy (New York: Random House, 1983), 125, fig. plate 74
  • Hermann Heinrich Ploss, Das weib in der natur- und vo¨lkerkunde (Leipzig,Germany: Grieben-Verlag, 1908), 120, studio engraving: after photograph, fig. 66
  • Wilhelm Joest, Festschrift für Adolf Bastian zu seinem 70 Geburtstage (Berlin: D. Reimer, 1896), 122, fig. 1–2
  • Adolf Bastian, Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Ku¨ste, nebst a¨lteren Nachrichten u¨ber die zu erforschenden La¨nder, II (Jena, Germany: Costenoble, 1875), endplate, context engraving: after photograph, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations)

Subject

women

Technical metadata and APIs

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