{"id":7050,"date":"2017-02-10T10:10:41","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T09:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/detlev.von.graeve.org\/?p=7050"},"modified":"2021-10-20T16:18:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T14:18:36","slug":"songye-belande-luba-a-small-nkishi-translation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/detlev.von.graeve.org\/?p=7050","title":{"rendered":"Songye – Belande -Luba : \u201aNkishi\u2019 miniature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published 14 february 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Original Version<\/a>:\u00a0 10 february 2017<\/p>\n

What kind of figure?
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\"Songye<\/a>Fetish (Nkishi)<\/strong>: openings in the back and navel<\/p>\n

Slave<\/strong>: her hands bound together – Felix (100 Peoples) mentions the traditional status of slaves.It cannot be someone else.<\/p>\n

Beautiful woman<\/strong>: elaborate noble hairstyle with shaved forehead, straight and quite long neck with three rolls; The woman wears 11 tiny copper nails as ornament: 3 from the nose to the back, 2 to the eyes, 6 to the right and left of the temples; she has expressive bean eyes (elevations plus nails) and a disarming smile like a smiley face<\/em> .She looks directly at the viewer with raised and marked eyebrows and sharp eyes, Her smile conveys serenity.She is very pregnant with an attractive belly, hollow lower back and nice buttocks.The attitude is impeccable. The master did nothing superfluous: no jewels on the fuselage (So sure, that she is Songye!)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Style, Design, Care, and Condition –<\/strong> A Perfect<\/strong> Miniature of 21 cm
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Proportions:<\/strong> classic and vital. Front: head and neck more than one third (8.5 cm), trunk from the collarbones to the clitoris the same (8.5 cm), knee, feet and pedestal (4 cm).And from behind: the bound hands, form a lowered center: 8 cm below and above 13 cm.<\/p>\n

Design:<\/strong> Clear contours and strong notches: hair, ears, eyebrows, eyes, nose wings, mouth, clitoris, feet<\/p>\n

Polishing<\/strong> : <\/strong>The<\/strong> face appears more thoroughly polished than the body, where the fine cuts are still visible in a pleasant way. The cuts are much smaller than those in the Mbala rider..<\/p>\n

Care and maintenance:<\/strong> Dark care-patina like that of my oldest Ibedjis. Forehead, nose and mouth, the high-seated breasts, forearms, tied hands, and feet show a shining abrasion and reflect the light, so that the figurine looks always interesting. Small flaws an arm and lower body appear as wood defects. Very discreet fresh smell.<\/p>\n

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Provenance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Who likes to doubt if the supplier proposes a provenance! In this case it was Zela<\/strong><\/em> in the first place, or<\/em> Luba-Katanga, Hemba, Luba-Shankadi<\/em> , that meant an origin east of the Lualaba to the lakes.<\/p>\n

Where do I know the hairstyle from? From two medicine miniatures of my own, from the East Congo to Tanzania.The crescent shape of the mouth reminds me of the monkey-masks of the Hemba. I am looking for more formal arguments and find them in Nooter \/ Roberts <\/u>Memory<\/u><\/em> (Luba) p.213 cat.90 <\/em>:<\/em> Kusu male chief<\/em> (mouth); p.181 cat.<\/em> 75 Luba dramatically elongated mask<\/em> (mouth); p.158 fig.<\/em> 149 Luba chief<\/em> photo 1916 (eyebrows), as well as in Nooter <\/u>Secrecy<\/u><\/em> cat.<\/em> 36 Luba bow stood<\/em> : neck, breasts, labia, vivid feet – but the overall impression stresses only the typical differences between Luba and Lubaized figures on one side, and\u00a0 the Songye fetishes on the other.<\/p>\n

From the first moment <\/strong>I was <\/strong>convinced of a<\/strong> Songye-Belande-Milembwe<\/strong><\/em> origin! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Neyt: <\/u>Songye<\/u><\/em> p.380-81 Style I<\/strong> characterized by smiling Makishi, in a region 100 km west of the Lualaba and today about 200 km northwest of the proposed ‚Zela.‘<\/p>\n

The best examples are cat. 4 and 8<\/strong>, both 58 cm high:<\/p>\n

\"Neyt-Songye,<\/a>

Neyt-Songye, Tf. 4 style I<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Neyt-Songye,<\/a>

Neyt-Songye, Tf. 8 style I<\/p><\/div>\n

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Arguments for an origin from the Songye-Belande in the transition region to Luba!<\/strong><\/h4>\n