Female Figurine
1880–1920
- Medium
- Wood, possibly ceramic, and copper alloy
- Dimensions
- Overall: 17 x 5.8 x 4.2 cm (6 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in.)
- Genre
- Sculpture
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Africa, Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Beembe-style maker
About
Beembe figurines generally have greatly detailed anatomical and decorative features. The scarification among Beembe men and women communicated their ideas about local beauty and ethnic belonging. These figures are charged with an ancestor’s spirit through a mixture of resin and human-derived ingredients—taken from the corpse of the person they possibly portray—into a small cavity near the rectum.