Zande figure
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1932.30.15
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1932
Materials:
Wood Plant , Grass Fibre Plant , Bark Cloth Textile Plant , Brass Metal , Cotton Textile Plant
Process:
Carved , Incised , Burnt , Pyroengraved Pokerwork , Beaten , Woven Recycled Perforated Tied Inlaid Enamelled
Dimensions:
Max H = 340 mm, W across head = 64.5, across legs = 85, th head = 85.7 mm [RTS 17/9/2004].
Weight:
707.2 g
Other Owners:
Charles Armine Willis worked for the Sudan Political Service from 1905 until 1931, and could presumably have obtained these objects at some time during this period [RTS 13/10/2004].
Field Collector:
Charles Armine Willis
PRM Source:
Charles Armine Willis
Acquired:
Donated 1932
Collected Date:
1905 - 1931?
Description:
Anthropomorphic figure carved from a single piece of wood in the form of a woman, standing, facing to the front with arms hanging straight down by her sides and slightly away from the body, legs positioned apart and feet flat on the ground, facing forwards.
Most of the body has been left the natural yellowish colour of the wood (Pantone 7508C), with details of hair, facial features, breasts, stomach, genitalia and buttocks burnt black (Pantone black 4C).
The figure has a rounded head, with the upper part representing the hair, carved to stand out from the face and back of the neck.
The front of this has been cut to leave two narrow flat surfaces, stepping back from the face.
Behind these, the main part of the hair has been decorated with a series of incised lines representing braiding, with a single line for a central parting, then a series of curving lines radiating in arcs from either side of this and down to the base of the head.
The areas between these lines has been scored with crosshatching.
At the nape of the neck, the hair turns outwards into a large flanged arc that slopes down on the upper and lower faces and has been cut flat around its outer edge.
The upper part of this is decorated with an incised zigzag that divides the surface into a series of triangles.
The hair has been burnt black, but reserving the inner row of triangles so that they remain yellow and stand out in contrast to the surrounding area.
The face is oval and well modelled, with ears, eyes, nose and mouth standing out in relief from the surface. The ears have been blackened and pierced through the centre; short bundles of flat grass strips have been pushed through these, and fanned out on the inner side. The eyes stand out as raised lentoids with blackened sides; the centres of these have been carved out and inlaid with two circular enamelled brass eyelets, probably European and recycled from shoes or clothing, with a circular blackened plug of wood at the centre to represent the pupil. The nose is hooked, with a hole burnt through the side and fitted with a short yellow rod made from a grass or plant stem with soft pith (Pantone 1345C). Additional facial details have been marked with pyroengraved pokerwork - with thick blackened arcs for eyebrows, a upwardly curving mouth, slightly raised from the surface, and cicatrisation marks in the form of three vertical lines between the brows, and groups of three slightly oblique lines on either cheek. These must have been applied with a heated fine-bladed tool.
Below the face, the figure has a round neck with a shallow incised line burnt around its base, then a slightly modelled torso that has a deep groove carved down the centre of the back with rounded buttocks below, marked with two pyroengraved arcs. The arms hang down on either side of the body. These are quite stylised, with flattened outer, inner and side faces; they taper in from the shoulders, then step in to a narrower rectangular section that represents the wrists, then out again to two large, flat, splaying hands, their fingers marked by four notches cut in from the base. These are visible on the outer face only. On the front of the torso, the figure has been given two large conical breasts, quite low down the torso, with a conical belly below. The breasts have been flattened and burnt black at the top, with their sides carved into a series of vertical facets; every second facet has been burnt black. The tip of the belly has also been flattened and burnt black to mark the navel. Female genitalia have been carved below, and marked with a horizontal burnt line across the top with two oblique lines running down from this. The legs are short and plump in proportion to the rest of the body, with swelling sides that come in to meet large angular feet with elongated heels and flat undersides and edges. A series of toes have been created by cutting four deep v-shaped notches into the front face. The figure has been dressed with a piece of rectangular light orangey brown fibrous barkcloth (Pantone 729C), doubled over at the front to make an apron, and five bundles of flat yellowish brown plant fibre strips hanging down behind to make a back apron (Pantone 7508C). Each bundle has been doubled over and knotted at the top, with a horizontal row of grass fibre stitching just below fastening the bundles together. Both garments are held in place by a rectangular strip of woven buff coloured cotton textile, tied around the waist of the figure and knotted at the back (Pantone 7507C).
The figure is complete, but has some splits in the wood around the head and neck. The surface has been largely smoothed, but there are roughly tooled areas surviving in areas such as beneath the arms and on the lower torso. The figure has a weight of 707.2 grams, is 340 mm high, with a width across the head of 64.5 mm, across the shoulders of 108.5 mm, and across the legs of 85 mm; the head has a maximum thickness of 85.7 mm.
Collected by Charles Armine Willis, presumably sometime in the period from 1905 to 1931, when he worked for the Sudan Political Service. It is said to have come from somewhere in the Bahr el Ghazal area.
Willis also collected a similar figure of a man, 1932.30.14. S tylistic similarities between the figures include the treatment of the eyes; facial expression and cicatrisation marks; shape of the head, the way the hair/hat line stands out from the forehead as a flat bevelled surface, and projects as an angular flange from the back of the neck; the short swelling legs and the oddly angular feet. The treatment of the arms differs slightly, as do other minor details (e.g.: the area around the eyelets has been left unburnt in this example, but has been burnt on the other figure). The figures have been made to different scales, and so were probably not intended to be a pair. Both were probably manufactured for sale to Europeans. Compare these with 1933.76.4-5, collected by Hooper in 1909. For similar types of figures, see W. Fagg, 1965, Tribes and Forms in African Art, p. 111 and E. Elisofon & W. Fagg, 1958 The Sculpture of Africa, figs 314-5.
According to Larken, Zande men and women both practised cicatrisation, but 'the face is usually not touched, except where an individual has come into contact with Arabs and copied their habit in this direction (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 31)'. This practice may have become more widespread since Larken's time, however, as most of the modelled human figures made by Mbitim (1996.53.1, 1934.8.133-135, 1950.12.117, 1928.67.4), or Zande woodcarvers (1928.67.4, 1932.30.14-15) are depicted with this kind of facial scarring.
Rachael Sparks 26/9/2005.
The face is oval and well modelled, with ears, eyes, nose and mouth standing out in relief from the surface. The ears have been blackened and pierced through the centre; short bundles of flat grass strips have been pushed through these, and fanned out on the inner side. The eyes stand out as raised lentoids with blackened sides; the centres of these have been carved out and inlaid with two circular enamelled brass eyelets, probably European and recycled from shoes or clothing, with a circular blackened plug of wood at the centre to represent the pupil. The nose is hooked, with a hole burnt through the side and fitted with a short yellow rod made from a grass or plant stem with soft pith (Pantone 1345C). Additional facial details have been marked with pyroengraved pokerwork - with thick blackened arcs for eyebrows, a upwardly curving mouth, slightly raised from the surface, and cicatrisation marks in the form of three vertical lines between the brows, and groups of three slightly oblique lines on either cheek. These must have been applied with a heated fine-bladed tool.
Below the face, the figure has a round neck with a shallow incised line burnt around its base, then a slightly modelled torso that has a deep groove carved down the centre of the back with rounded buttocks below, marked with two pyroengraved arcs. The arms hang down on either side of the body. These are quite stylised, with flattened outer, inner and side faces; they taper in from the shoulders, then step in to a narrower rectangular section that represents the wrists, then out again to two large, flat, splaying hands, their fingers marked by four notches cut in from the base. These are visible on the outer face only. On the front of the torso, the figure has been given two large conical breasts, quite low down the torso, with a conical belly below. The breasts have been flattened and burnt black at the top, with their sides carved into a series of vertical facets; every second facet has been burnt black. The tip of the belly has also been flattened and burnt black to mark the navel. Female genitalia have been carved below, and marked with a horizontal burnt line across the top with two oblique lines running down from this. The legs are short and plump in proportion to the rest of the body, with swelling sides that come in to meet large angular feet with elongated heels and flat undersides and edges. A series of toes have been created by cutting four deep v-shaped notches into the front face. The figure has been dressed with a piece of rectangular light orangey brown fibrous barkcloth (Pantone 729C), doubled over at the front to make an apron, and five bundles of flat yellowish brown plant fibre strips hanging down behind to make a back apron (Pantone 7508C). Each bundle has been doubled over and knotted at the top, with a horizontal row of grass fibre stitching just below fastening the bundles together. Both garments are held in place by a rectangular strip of woven buff coloured cotton textile, tied around the waist of the figure and knotted at the back (Pantone 7507C).
The figure is complete, but has some splits in the wood around the head and neck. The surface has been largely smoothed, but there are roughly tooled areas surviving in areas such as beneath the arms and on the lower torso. The figure has a weight of 707.2 grams, is 340 mm high, with a width across the head of 64.5 mm, across the shoulders of 108.5 mm, and across the legs of 85 mm; the head has a maximum thickness of 85.7 mm.
Collected by Charles Armine Willis, presumably sometime in the period from 1905 to 1931, when he worked for the Sudan Political Service. It is said to have come from somewhere in the Bahr el Ghazal area.
Willis also collected a similar figure of a man, 1932.30.14. S tylistic similarities between the figures include the treatment of the eyes; facial expression and cicatrisation marks; shape of the head, the way the hair/hat line stands out from the forehead as a flat bevelled surface, and projects as an angular flange from the back of the neck; the short swelling legs and the oddly angular feet. The treatment of the arms differs slightly, as do other minor details (e.g.: the area around the eyelets has been left unburnt in this example, but has been burnt on the other figure). The figures have been made to different scales, and so were probably not intended to be a pair. Both were probably manufactured for sale to Europeans. Compare these with 1933.76.4-5, collected by Hooper in 1909. For similar types of figures, see W. Fagg, 1965, Tribes and Forms in African Art, p. 111 and E. Elisofon & W. Fagg, 1958 The Sculpture of Africa, figs 314-5.
According to Larken, Zande men and women both practised cicatrisation, but 'the face is usually not touched, except where an individual has come into contact with Arabs and copied their habit in this direction (P.M. Larken, 1926, "An Account of the Zande", Sudan Notes and Records IX no. 1, p. 31)'. This practice may have become more widespread since Larken's time, however, as most of the modelled human figures made by Mbitim (1996.53.1, 1934.8.133-135, 1950.12.117, 1928.67.4), or Zande woodcarvers (1928.67.4, 1932.30.14-15) are depicted with this kind of facial scarring.
Rachael Sparks 26/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
72] 1932 [insert, in pencil] 30 [end insert]
C.
ARMINE WILLIS,
Esq.
- Specimens collected by himself in the EASTERN SUDAN, viz.
[p.74, insert in pencil] 14-15 [end insert] - [One of] 2 Carved wooden human figures, [drawing male symbol] and [drawing female symbol], AZANDE.
Collected in 1932.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - This item appears on typewritten list RDF 1932.30.1-15, under list item 9: 'Two Azande figures, male and female, collected 1932'.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - This item appears on typewritten list RDF 1932.30.1-15, under list item 9: 'Two Azande figures, male and female, collected 1932'.
