Lumbu Statuary 23 FIGS. 5a & b (left top and center): Kneeling fi gure. Lumbu, Gabon. Wood. H: 30 cm. Private collection, France. Photo © Hughes Dubois. FIG. 6 (left bottom): Standing fi gure, nkondi. Lumbu, Gabon. Wood, metal. H: 31.5 cm. Ex Josef Mueller; Philippe Guimiot; Helen and Robert Kuhn. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, inv. X92-46. FIG. 7 (upper right): Figure with calabashes. Lumbu, Gabon. Wood. H: 35 cm. Ex Sig Johann Umlauf. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1905, inv. IIIC20277. Photo © Bpk/Ethnologisches Museum, SMB/Martin Franken. FIG. 8 (lower right): Statue. Lumbu, Gabon. Wood. H: 25 cm. Ex Baron Freddy Rolin. Rita and John Grunwald Collection, Indianapolis. Indiana University Art Museum. Photo: Michael Cavanagh and Kevin Montague. a rake-like position or be rounded, and the way in which adornments are worn. The rendering of the coiffure is where the specifi cally Lumbu style is most evident. Five different types of coiffures occur in Lumbu statuary. In the fi rst, it is a helmet or visor shape that is anchored beneath the chin or under the ears. The second is made up of four large tresses (dibudu) on either side of a median part; the third, known as a kodia, has rolled-up tresses evocative of the spiral shell of a snail; and the fourth is a cruciform construction of lines. The fi fth, called ighodu, is made up of long hair gathered together above and behind the head, which then falls down the back in a long point. Having briefl y outlined these historical and stylistic details, we will now explore the scope of Lumbu statuary through an examination of its principal themes and the presentation of works that exemplify them, as well as certain little-known masterpieces. Figures with Calabashes Female fi gures holding one or two calabashes are among the oldest Lumbu works known. They are distinguished by their gesture of offering, which is made to the ancestors, and are characterized by the beauty and fi ne lines of the face, a helmet-shaped coiffure, and the wearing of jewelry —bracelets, anklets, and necklaces. The chest, shoulders, and back are often covered with scarifi cation in the form of lozenges, spirals, and chevrons. The museums in Berlin and Hamburg have two fi gures in their collections that date from 1905 and 1893, respectively. These are representative of what we understand to be “classical beauty” in the Lumbu corpus.15 The fi gure in the Berlin Museum (fi g. 7) is in a standing pose and is 35 centimeters high. It has regular proportions, the head, trunk, and legs being rendered in equal lengths, an attribute that is also evident in a fi gure from the Rita and John Grunwald Collection (fi g. 8). Here, the eyes are half-moon shaped and inlaid with pieces of glass, and the mouth is open and showing teeth, which is rare in Lumbu statuary. The four scarifi cation spirals on the chest cross one another and form a lozenge shape, a highly symbolic design because it is associated with not only the “door of life, but also with death, female genitalia, and the origin of the world.”16 The spiral also is reminiscent of the kodia and alludes to the Kongo migration.17 This same type of scarifi cation and treatment of the eyes is also seen on a beautiful little fi gure that once belonged to Helena Rubinstein (fi g. 9). Certain details on the Berlin fi gure (fi g. 7) are further evidence of an artistic tradition largely composed of borrowed elements: There is a band around the upper chest
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