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Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands

Master of Kasadi

19th–early 20th century, inventoried 1913

Not on view

Collected several decades earlier than the figure acquired by the Protestant missionary Léo Bittremieux, this work differs only in a few details such as the cicatrization motifs emblazoned on the front and back of the upper torso. Referred to as zitsamba, this repertoire of bodily signs was intended to make women more desirable and glamorous. Drawn on the surface of the skin with ashes and then inscribed with a needle and a knife, this form of bodily adornment confirmed a woman’s courage and strength to endure physical pain.

Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands, Master of Kasadi, Wood (Nauclea latifolia Smith), glass, kaolin, Kongo peoples; Yombe group — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands, Master of Kasadi, Wood (Nauclea latifolia Smith), glass, kaolin, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands, Master of Kasadi, Wood (Nauclea latifolia Smith), glass, kaolin, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Figure: Seated Female Supporting Figure with Clasped Hands

Artist: Master of Kasadi

Date: 19th–early 20th century, inventoried 1913

Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola; Republic of the Congo

Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Medium: Wood (Nauclea latifolia Smith), glass, kaolin

Dimensions: H. 11 1/4 in. (28.5 cm), W. 5 in. (12.8 cm), D. 4 3/4 in. (12 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.