Female Bowl-Bearing Figure
Unknown Artist
late 1800s-early 1900s
Medium
Wood, glass beads, upholstery studs, plant fiber, and iron
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.408,"width":0.161,"depth":0.273}}
Classification
Sculpture
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
2010.454
About this artwork
In Luba-style art, an object's beauty affects how well it works. While bowl-bearing figures had many possible uses, a royal diviner likely used this well-carved image of a woman carrying a bowl in rituals. Dusty traces of mpemba (white chalk) fleck the shining exterior and the bowl's interior, showing it once held this sacred powder. Diamond-shaped scarification marks at her waist, chest, and back add to her beauty. Her hair is carved into the cascading layered hairstyle worn in the Luba region ...