1 / 8
an image of a wooden statue of a womana wooden statue of a woman holding a baby in her armsa wooden statue of a woman with a head and neckan image of a wooden sculpture of a man with a long neckan image of a wooden statue of a man with a facea close up of a wooden statue of a person wearing a masktwo wooden sculptures of a man and a woman with hornsa group of three african carved wooden figures
Premium Artcurial

34 - IMPORTANT SONGYE STATUE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Woo…
See original version (French)

Estimate €50,000 - €80,000
Sale commission
Description
IMPORTANT SONGYE STATUE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Wood and copper H.: 95 cm (37? in.) An important Songye figure, Democratic Republic of the Congo Provenance: Governor Gaston Heenen, before 1932 Mr Guy Langouche and his wife Claire Goddart (piece given to Claire Goddart by former Governor G. Heenen, her godfather) Jacques Van Overstraeten, Brussels Pierre Dartevelle (1940–2022), Brussels Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (1932–2009), Brussels, then passed down through the family Bibliography: Neyt (François), The Formidable Songye Statuary of Central Africa/Songye. The Formidable Statuary of Central Africa, Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 2004, p. 198, no. 164 This important Songye statue from the Rotthier collection belongs to the body of work of a master of whom only two works are known today. Its most striking feature lies in the way the sculptor has enriched the figure’s facial features with a row of small protuberances framing the oval of the eyes. The second statue, which can be attributed with a high degree of certainty to the same artist, was among the one hundred and thirty-three works displayed at the ‘Sacri Spiriti Songye’ exhibition held in the Palatine Chapel of the Maschio Angioino in Naples. It was acquired before 1920 by the vice-governor Gaston Heenen (see lde Grunne (Bernard) & Pezzoli (Gigi), *Sacri spiriti Songye*, Naples, Silvana Editoriale, 2022, cat. 61). A comparison of these two sculptures with a third figure held in the collections of the AfricaMuseum—in the typical Kalebwe style and collected by Dr J.-A. Fourche in 1940—sheds interesting light on this motif. The latter indeed features rows of copper nails surrounding the oval of the eyes, a detail that could explain the origin of the carved ornamentation observed on the two statues attributed to this master (cf. Backe (Viviane), Bouttiaux (Anne-Marie) & Dubois (Hughes), *Le Sensible et la Force*, M.R.A.C., Tervuren, 2024, p. 10, cat. 16). AN IMPORTANT SONGYE FIGURE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Wood and copper H.: 37? in. Provenance: Gaston Heenen, before 1932 Mr Guy Langouche and his wife Claire Goddart (the piece having been given to Claire Goddart by her godfather, former Governor Gaston Heenen) Jacques Van Overstraeten, Brussels Pierre Dartevelle (1940–2022), Brussels Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (1932–2009), Brussels, then by descent Bibliography: Neyt (François), La redoutable statuaire Songye d’Afrique centrale/Songye. The Formidable Statuary of Central Africa, Antwerp: Mercatorfonds, 2004, p. 198, no. 164  This important Songye figure from the Rotthier Collection belongs to the oeuvre of a master whose work is known today through only two surviving pieces. Its most distinctive feature lies in the way the sculptor emphasised the figure’s physiognomy with a row of small protuberances framing the oval of the eyes. The second statue, which can be attributed to the same artist with a high degree of certainty, was included amongst the one hundred and thirty-three works exhibited in *Sacri Spiriti Songye*, held in the Palatine Chapel of the Maschio Angioino in Naples. It was acquired before 1920 by Vice-Governor Gaston Heenen (see lde Grunne (Bernard) & Pezzoli (Gigi), *Sacri spiriti Songye*, Naples, Silvana Editoriale, 2022, cat. 61). A comparison between these two sculptures and a third figure held in the collections of the AfricaMuseum—a typical Kalebwe example collected by Dr J.-A. Fourche in 1940—provides an interesting clue as to the origin of this motif. The AfricaMuseum figure features rows of copper tacks surrounding the oval of the eyes, a detail that may explain the sculpted ornamentation found on the two statues attributed to this master (see Backe (Viviane), Bouttiaux (Anne-Marie) & Dubois (Hughes), *Le Sensible et la Force*, M.R.A.C., Tervuren, 2024, p. 10, cat. 16).
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale The Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection: Art from Africa and Oceania
Auction location
Auction time 09/08/2026 at 4:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like