The Collection
The American Wing Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Asian Art The Cloisters The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Robert Lehman Collection The Libraries Medieval Art Musical Instruments Photographs Antonio Ratti Textile Center Modern and Contemporary Art

Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Figure: Seated Male

Kongo peoples; Yombe group

19th–early 20th century

Not on view

Kongo sculptors produced works for a variety of patrons, including priests and leaders, and sometimes there was overlapping of the forms commissioned by these clients. Such figures of a seated chief striking a contemplative pose were also placed in a chief’s commemorative ancestral shrine (nzo a bakulu) as part of a display of the textiles, stoneware, terracotta, and wood sculptures that he accrued. In contrast to the adjacent figure, which emphasizes a long narrow torso and arms, this one is dense and robust.

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Figure: Seated Male, Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment, 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.

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

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 Male

Date: 19th–early 20th century

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

Culture: Kongo peoples; Yombe group

Medium: Wood, metal, ivory, glass, pigment

Dimensions: H. 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm), W. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm), D. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Private Collection

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.