#mangbetu

[bolaneno]

a Mangbetu woman of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (circa early 1960s)

photo by Michel Huet

[itswadestore]

Mbombio, Chief Mogendo’s principal wife, Medje Village, Democratic Republic of Congo by Eliot Elisofon, 1970.

[dumbbitchhour]

Mangbetu, Congo, Container, 1890s x

[womblegrinch]

André Hallet (1890-1959) - Princesse, Mangbetu

Oil on strong cardboard. 16.1 x 13 inches, 41 x 33 cm.

Estimate: €700-900.

Sold Hotel de Ventes Horta, Brussels, Belgium, 7 Oct 2024 for €700 + B.P.

After travelling widely in Europe, Hallet was sent by the Belgian Ministry of Colonies to the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1934, eventually settling in Kisenyi in what is now Rwanda, until his death.

The Mangbetu people of the northeastern Congo pursued a practice of what they called ‘lipombo’. New-born babies had their heads tightly wrapped with cloth and the soft, growing cranium would take on an elongated shape. The deformation didn’t affect the brain. Intracranial pressure remained the same as for a normal person, the brain simply growing into the new shape of the skull.

The Mangbetu believed the elongation denoted majesty, beauty, power and higher intelligence. The practice largely died out in the 1950s with increasing Westernisation and a ban imposed by the colonial authorities.

I've posted another painting by Hallet previously of a mother and child where you can see the binding on the infant's head.

[global-musings]

Mangbetu Man Wearing Basketry Hat. Medje Village, Congo (1970) - Eliot Elisofon

[mazovshanka]

This is my small collection of wooden masks. Most of them are African, only the last two are Indonesian. I love African tribal art and apart from the masks I have Ashanti Akuaba doll from Ghana and a small ebony Makonde sculpture from Mozambique.

Masks from L to R: Dan Dean'gle mask (Ivory Coast/Liberia), Mangbetu mask (Congo), Dan Dean'gle mask, Baule Mblo mask (Ivory Coast/Ghana), Chokwe mask (Angola/Congo), batik mask (Bali), unknown mask (Indonesia).

[bulkbinbox]

mulher mangbetu, províncias orientais do congo belga [atual república democrática do congo], casimir zagourski.

[lionofchaeronea]

Trumbash (throwing knife) with an ivory handle, of the Mangbetu people, present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. Maker unknown; late 19th century. Now in the Brooklyn Museum. Photo credit: Brooklyn Museum.