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This outstanding anthropomorphic wooden gong was made by the Bongo people of the Sudan area. It is a painstakingly hollowed-out trunk with a plain yet highly patinated surface, with a hole in the top 1/3 to change the tone of the gong when it is beaten. The top of the piece narrows to a “neck” with a horizontal flange resembling a necklet, surmounted by a rounded head with a simplified high brow/nose complex over a recessed face. The eyes are inlaid with a light material, probably bone, in the manner of Nyamwezi sculptures. The apex of the head is decorated with what is presumably intended to be a spiky coiffure. The condition is perfect, the size indicating that it must have been a major centre of social focus within the society where it was made.
The Bongo are a powerful tribe in East Africa, and may have had an extremely long history judging from as-yet unanalysed archaeological remains. Their society was highly mobile at one stage, so their artistic output was generally small in terms of scale (and volume). Their subsequent economy was based upon sorghum and millet farming. They suffered greatly at the hands of slave traders in the late 19th century, and have only recently started to rebuild their numbers. Their artworks include masks (very rare) and everyday items such as neckrests, but they are best known for their funerary posts. Large gongs such as these are exceptionally rare.
The schematic handling of anthropomorphic features is exceptional, and the Bongo are prominent exponents of the geometric reductivism which made African art such a powerful force in the formation of 20th century European art styles. However, it is remarkable because it is what it is, not what it influenced. It is a powerful and imposing piece of African art that would suit any collection or sophisticated domestic setting.
- (DV.029 (LSO))
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