Figurative Harp (Domu)

The Mangbetu peoples of North-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo impressed early travelers with their political institutions and their arts, especially their remarkable skill as builders, potters, and sculptors. As a result, American and European explorers alike started collecting Mangbetu art at the turn of the 20th century and were partly responsible for an escalation in production of distinctive Mangbetu anthropomorphic sculptural genres.

Carefully elaborated harps testify of the importance of music at the Mangbetu aristocratic court. Here a delicately modeled full standing female figure serves as the neck of the string instrument. The elongated figure is distinctive for its light-colored wood. The figure's features are meticulously rendered through delicate modeling, incised graphic embellishments on the visage and body, and detailed definition of the characteristic halo-shaped hairdo. The quality of the carving equals the most refined examples of Mangbetu statuary.

This work skillfully features the elaborate reed-reinforced flared coiffure called "tumburu." This complex hairstyle was worn exclusively by ruling-class Mangbetu women. It was meant to accentuate the elongated shaped of the head achieved by massaging and tightly binding the heads of infants, which was considered as the ideal of Mangbetu beauty. The face is embellished by graphic motifs around the eyes which allude to painted or incised facial decorations.