Mangbetu or Zande Democratic Republic of the Congo Central Africa

Lidded Box

INV-1584

Mangbetu or Zande Democratic Republic of the Congo Central AfricaEarly 20th century

Lidded Box

Mangbetu or Zande Democratic Republic of the Congo Central Africa →

mangbetuArts of AfricaCentral Africaafrican Artcontainerarts of Africa

Date

Early 20th century

Medium

Wood, pigment, and raffia cord

Dimensions

61.3 × 20.4 × 21 cm (24 1/8 × 8 × 8 1/4 in.)

Museum

Art Institute of Chicago

Location

Chicago, IL

Credit

Bessie Bennett and Edward Johnson endowments

Mangbetu and Zande sculptors created a range of utilitarian objects decorated with elements of human anatomy. This lidded box features the head of a woman with a typical halo-shaped hairstyle atop a base shaped like the kind of stool used by women. The body was constructed by wrapping layers of bark into a cylinder. Members of the Mangbetu and Zande nobility used boxes like this one to store valuables such as jewelry and protective charms.

Also notable

Works in the same vein

Jar

Mangbetu Uele region, Democratic Republic of the Congo Central Africa

Double Panel

Possibly Mangbetu Democratic Republic of the Congo

Self-Portrait

Walter Shirlaw (American, 1838–1909)

Martin Vanden Bogaert Desjardins

Gérard Edelinck (French, born Flanders, 1640-1707) after Hyacinthe Rigaud (French, 1659-1743)