{"id":10686,"date":"2026-10-03T23:04:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T21:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/?post_type=approfondimento&#038;p=10686"},"modified":"2026-10-04T09:16:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:16:54","slug":"luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body","status":"publish","type":"approfondimento","link":"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/insights-african-art\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\/","title":{"rendered":"Luluwa sculpture: mukendi figures, proportions and treatment of the body"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The male Mukendi or Mukenge figure documented in the Dalton Somar\u00e9 archive dates to the second half of the nineteenth century. Carved in wood with a reddish powder patina, it measures 35 centimetres. Its history includes the collections of Paul Timmermans, Merton D. Simpson, Martin Lerner and Patrick Caput, as well as publication in the Pace Primitive catalogue of 2003. These records allow the figure\u2019s construction and documentary history to be studied together.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The slender body and slightly arched torso organise a vertical composition in which the abdomen marks a clear transition between the chest and the lower body. Examining the proportions helps distinguish the overall rhythm from the treatment of individual parts. The curve of the torso introduces a direction of movement; the continuity of the volumes maintains the figure\u2019s unity. The reddish surface accompanies this modelling and belongs to the work\u2019s material history.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In Luluwa sculpture, the treatment of the body also involves the elaboration of scarification. Incised and raised patterns should be examined in relation to the anatomical surface on which they appear: they can articulate a bodily area, emphasise its volume or introduce a different rhythm. This observation calls for comparisons between specific works, since the tradition encompasses different formal solutions and a complex history of bodily practices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Metropolitan Museum\u2019s female Bwanga bwa bwimpe figure, accession 1979.206.37, provides a comparison for the importance assigned to bodily decoration. Its museum record connects Luluwa figures with protection, beauty and ancestral relationships, distinguishing uses associated with motherhood. Comparison with the male figure therefore concerns proportions, surfaces and workmanship, preserving the identity of each work and its documented context.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Constantine Petridis\u2019s essay A Figure for Cibola, published in the Metropolitan Museum Journal in 2001, provides a reference for further study of art, politics and aesthetics among the Luluwa. The Dalton Somar\u00e9 example is also published in Scultura. Arte dell\u2019Africa, 2009, and L\u2019Africa delle Meraviglie, 2010. Analysis grounded in these records makes it possible to follow the work\u2019s history and compare its sculptural language with a documented corpus, while retaining attention to its particular construction of the body.<\/p>\n<h3>References and comparative works<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/es\/met-publications\/a-figure-for-cibola-the-metropolitan-museum-journal-v-36-2001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constantine Petridis, A Figure for Cibola, The Metropolitan Museum Journal, 36, 2001<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/312209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bwanga bwa bwimpe, 1979.206.37<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/publications\/african-sculpture-catalogue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dalton Somar\u00e9, Scultura. Arte dell\u2019Africa, 2009, pp. 79\u201380<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Works in the Gallery<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/work-of-art\/luluwa-mukendi-figure\/\">Male Mukendi or Mukenge figure, Luluwa<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Related reading<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/insights-african-art\/african-wood-sculpture-material-patina-and-conservation\/\">African wood sculpture: material, patina and conservation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The male Mukendi or Mukenge figure documented in the Dalton Somar\u00e9 archive dates to the second half of the nineteenth century. Carved in wood with a reddish powder patina, it measures 35 centimetres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2537,"menu_order":46,"template":"","area_approfondimento":[147],"class_list":["post-10686","approfondimento","type-approfondimento","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area_approfondimento-arte-africana"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Luluwa sculpture: mukendi figures and the body | Dalton Somar\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A nineteenth-century Mukendi or Mukenge figure: proportions, surfaces and documentary history, with research and Metropolitan Museum comparisons.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/insights-african-art\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\/\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Luluwa sculpture: mukendi figures and the body | Dalton Somar\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A nineteenth-century Mukendi or Mukenge figure: proportions, surfaces and documentary history, with research and Metropolitan Museum comparisons.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.daltonsomare.com\/en\/insights-african-art\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\/\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dalton Somar\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Dalton.Somare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-04T07:16:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/\",\"name\":\"Luluwa sculpture: mukendi figures and the body | Dalton Somar\u00e9\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/DSC00767.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-03T21:04:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-04T07:16:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"A nineteenth-century Mukendi or Mukenge figure: proportions, surfaces and documentary history, with research and Metropolitan Museum comparisons.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/en\\\/insights-african-art\\\/luluwa-sculpture-mukendi-figures-proportions-and-treatment-of-the-body\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/DSC00767.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.daltonsomare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/DSC00767.jpg\",\"width\":1417,\"height\":1984,\"caption\":\"Male Figure Bena Lulua, Congo D.R. 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