FEATURE 114 discussions between de Zayas and Gordon regarding this sale had disastrous consequences to the collaboration between Vignier and de Zayas, which ended in 1920.29 Until George Gordon’s accidental death in 1927, the Penn Museum pursued an active acquisition policy, but the Congolese collection never grew much larger or more important than the form it had taken by the early 1920s. Thanks to carefully kept archives,30 today’s Penn Museum is an essential repository for researchers interested in museum acquisitions during the first half of the century. By sourcing their works from a multitude of providers—ethnographica vendors, art galleries, missionaries, and explorers—George Gordon and Henry Hall were in a privileged position to navigate from one realm of collecting to another and were able to access several key collections of works from the Congo during the first decades of the twentieth century. Their keen eyes and deep interest in all cultures allowed them to appreciate the objects they acquired as works of art, refining their acquisition practices throughout the years while adapting to new trends and widely varying prices. The collection they built testifies to their open-mindedness and remains as a reminder of the humanistic collecting philosophy of the Penn Museum. NOTES 1. Neil MacGregor, “2600 years of history in one object.” TED Global 2011, filmed July 2011, posted online February 2012.http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_macgregor_ 2600_years_of_history_in_one_object.html On the notion of objects’ biographies, see anthropologist Igor Kopytoff’s “The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process.” In The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspectives. Appadurai, Arjun ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp. 64–91. 2. This paper was first presented jointly by Yaëlle Biro and Constantine Petridis at the 2012 Festival de l’Histoire de l’Art in Fontainebleau, France. Titled “Une collection d’art africain méconnue : les arts du Congo à l’University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphie,” the lecture took place on June 3, 2012. 3. Allen Wardwell. African Sculpture from The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1986. 4. Wardwell, ibid., p. 16. 5. University of Pennsylvania. The Museum Journal. Philadelphia: The Museum. Frontispiece, 1912–1918. The language of these statements changed slightly over the years, but the sentiment remained the same. 6. As stated by German anthropologist and director of Berlin’s ethnographic museum, Adolf Bastian, in 1881 (Bastian, cited in Glenn Penny, Objects of Culture: Ethnology and Ethnographic Museums in Imperial FIG. 26 (right): Male figure. Mbole people, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wood, pigment. H: 76.2 cm. Field collected by C. Blank in the Belgian Congo before 1920. Purchased from W. O. Oldman, London, 1924 (AF 5188). Image courtesy of the Penn Museum. Such a figure would have occurred in the context of the teaching practices of a closed association known as Lilwa. Hierarchically organized, Lilwa fulfilled various functions in the ritual, educational, social, political, economic, and judicial domains. The sculpture would represent a man who had incurred the death penalty in punishment for his breaking the laws of the association or disrupting the public order. It would be shown to boys undergoing their initiation into the society as a reminder of their obligations and the oath of secrecy they had taken. The carvings were occasionally also carried around on a litter with the aim to protect the community against general misfortune and harm. For more information, see esp. Daniel P. Biebuyck in Gustaaf Verswijver, et al. (eds.). Treasures from the Africa-Museum, Tervuren. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa, 1995. C.P. FIG. 27 (facing page): Male figure. Hungaan people, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wood, bone, brass. H: 92.5 cm. Field collected by C. Blank in the Belgian Congo before 1920. Purchased from W. O. Oldman, London, 1924 (AF 5183). Image courtesy of the Penn Museum. Hungaan figures served as guardians of ritual shrines that were jointly managed by a village chief and a ritual expert. Displayed on a platform adjacent to the shrine, the figures were originally accompanied by a bundle of magical materials. Along with a variety of objects contained in the interior of the shrine, the guardian figures functioned in rituals performed by their caretakers to promote fertility, guarantee well-being, and ensure longevity. This figure’s striking crested coiffure reflects a real coiffure or a wig. Once widely spread and shared by different peoples throughout the region, this hairstyle indicated status and prestige. The gesture of the hands supporting the chin identifies the figure as a chief who is immersed in thought and contemplation and ponders over his responsibilities. For more information, see especially Arthur P. Bourgeois in Erna Beumers and Hans- Joachim Koloss (eds.), Kings of Africa. Maastricht: Foundation Kings of Africa, 1992. C.P.
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