Ngata/Nkundu Figure

The use of these anthropomorphic sarcophagi by the Ngata (or Nkundu) people was centered around Mbandaka, (formerly Coquilleatville), at the confluence of the Ruki and Congo Rivers. Commissioned to carve an efomba, a specialist woodcarver, or bobongo, would secretly fell a tree, anoint it with dog’s blood to clear it of malign spirits, and take it to a sacred clearing to carve and adorn the effigy.[4]  Subsequent rituals may have included placing the subject’s bodily remains within the coffin and burying it, (reportedly after breaking the head and legs off the sculpture[5]); while the existence of intact examples suggests the figures were commemorative-- possibly placed inside a burial shrine or in the home--and were not interred.

This unique ritual expression reportedly came to the region as late as 1880 from northern tribal influences, and the last of the bobongo carvers were gone, allegedly between 1940 and 1960.  Three prominent examples of efomba are held in museums: 2 at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, in Tervuren, Belgium, collected in 1891; and one, possibly commissioned in 1940 explicitly for display, at the Museum du Quai Branly—Jacques Chirac, in Paris.[6]  Another fine example, the “Mestach sarcophagus,” was auctioned by Christie’s in 2012 for E2,697,000, and is presumably still held privately.[7]

The posture of this example--with its head and large ears well forward of the commanding torso-- imparts a sense of authority.  Expressively incised facial features also convey a figure of great presence.  Slightly ovoid from top to bottom, the overall shape breaks subtly from the precise rectilinear form of most known examples, exhibiting a “rare plastic quality” so highly praised in the figure sold by Christie’s in 2012.  Though probably not from the same carver, our figure shares many similar features with that Mestach example: vertically elongated diamond shapes in a grid with alternating blue (indigo) and white (kaolin) colorants, a satisfying horizontal schema to complement the overall verticality of the piece, and a naturalistic carving of the legs, arms and hands.  Traces of black vegetal matter on the head suggest the former existence of a hairpiece; that, along with the rectangular chin are features of many Ngata.  Heavy patina overall with typical colorants support dating commensurate with other museum pieces.  An exceedingly rare, early example of this extraordinary classical form.