Images(2)

Female Figure with Bowl (mboko)

Artist Luba artist

Dateearly–mid 20th century

MediumWood

Dimensions17 7/8 x 8 1/2 x 6 3/4 in. (45.4 x 21.6 x 17.1 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Hanes

Object numberGL.72.19.38

On View

Not on view

Label TextLuba vessels and stools adorned with female figures, which served as symbols of royal authority and status, reflect the central role of women in Luba court life. Royal women served as emissaries, ambassadors, and tribute collectors in dealings with neighboring states, and their marriages to rulers of other groups helped expand the Luba domains. Artistic traditions established during the glory days of the Luba empire, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, have survived into the twentieth century in traditional Luba communities.

This caryatid figure is characteristic of Luba court art in her erect, dignified posture, which is emphasized by the straight, elongated arms. The legs, by contrast, are fluid and hug the ground, so that the genital area is close to the earth, the source of all life. The elaborate cross-shaped coiffure (on the back of the head), coffee-bean shaped eyes, and scarification patterns are typical of Luba court sculpture.ProvenanceJacob Epstein CollectionPublished References"Acquisitions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 12, nos. 1 and 2 (December 1973), group of objects on long-term loan listed 68.

Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 75.

Bezio Bassani and Malcolm D. McLeod, Jacob Epstein: Collector (Milan: Associazione Poro, 1989), 120, illus. (b-w).

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus.(b-w) 53.

Rebecca Martin Nagy, entry for Bowl Bearer, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 61, illus. (color).

Obsidian III 4, no. 2 (Spring/Summer 2002), illus. (b-w) 37.Exhibition HistoryGreensboro, NC, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, September 9-30, 1973.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–April 21, 2025. Object Rights Statement

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