Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity
Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure - Art for Eternity

Fine Chokwe Wood Carved Ancestor figure

14844

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Northeastern Angola, Circa 19th–Early 20th Century AD

A finely carved hardwood standing male figure in the Chokwe sculptural tradition, depicting a dignitary or dancer with an elaborate winged, lobed coiffure/headdress, heavy-lidded almond eyes, and a projecting carved beard — the classic features of Chokwe ancestor figures associated with the royal hero Chibinda Ilunga. An incised diagonal baldric/sash crosses the torso, and the figure stands on large, powerfully rendered feet — a Chokwe convention symbolizing strength and authority. The flaring lower form represents a wide raffia dance skirt, identifying the subject as a ceremonial dancer.

Chokwe figural sculpture from the Uchokwe homeland of 18th–19th-century Angola represents one of the supreme achievements of African art. The most celebrated subject is Chibinda Ilunga, the Luba prince and master hunter whose marriage to the Lunda chieftainess Lweji founded the Chokwe royal lineage; he is conventionally shown with an elaborate rolled/winged headdress signifying royal rank, a beard, and oversized hands and feet denoting power. The winged coiffure and beard on this figure follow that canonical type.  Such figures honored ancestors and chiefly authority and were displayed in contexts of leadership and ritual dance; related Chokwe performance traditions used full raffia costumes and skirts. The flaring skirted lower body here directly evokes the masked/costumed dancer.

Condition: Varied surface patina; an old age crack/check visible at the forehead and headdress; wear consistent with age and handling

Size: 11 in. H (27.9 cm), excluding mount; on custom wood mount

Comparison (cf.): Chibinda Ilunga figures in the Kimbell Art Museum, British Museum (Af1969-09-5), and Smithsonian, all 19th-century northeastern Angola.

Provenance: J.S. Collection Rhode Island; acquired from a Connecticut estate.





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