Songye Power Figure

Democratic Republic of Congo, Eki region, Western area of Songye territory

H. 31 inches (78.7 cm)
Circa 1850 – 1880
Wood, copper, iron
Height 78.7 cm / 31 inches

Provenance:
Reis Family Collection, Bernard (1895 – 1978) and Rebecca (1896—1988), New York, art collectors of Modern and African art; Bernard was an accountant to Peggy Guggenheim and Mark Rothko, circa 1940
Thence by descent
Private American Collection

Published:
Museum of Primitive Art, African Sculpture lent by New York Collectors, New York: MPA, 1958, catalogue number 47, pp 18 –18a
Altman, Ralph, Totems Not Taboo, Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1959, np
Robbins, Warren, African Art in American Collections, New York, Praeger, 1966, no. 312
Van Dyke, Kristina, African Art from the Menil Collection, Houston: Menil Foundation, 2008, p. 60 (view of Totems Not Taboo exhibition)

Exhibited:
New York, Museum of Primitive Art, African Sculpture lent by New York
Collectors, Summer 1958
Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Totems Not Taboo, 26 February – 29 March 1959