A rare carved ivory masango figure .This type of Lega ivory sculptures are very rare, especially those made in the so-called “round head” style like this one, characterized by the energetic volumetry of the different anatomical parts.These stauettes, invested with important magical values within the Bwami society, are often the subject of showy manipulations that can lead to real scrapings of conspicuous parts of the artifact to obtain medical powders to mix with filters or medicines (Daniel Biebuyck). According to this reading it is possible that even in this piece the left side of the body has been object of such practices.
For comparative examples see Sothebys NYC, 11 May 2012, lot n ° 201, or Sothebys Paris, 02 December 2015, lot n ° 19
Provenance: Italian private collection and previously from the collection of a well-known French industrialist who - according to what he stated, had come to him by donation from the great explorer Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta (1873-1933) who had collected them in situ at the end of the '20s.