Mangbetu Bust Vase 231.1 Children Playing Set it down as occasional

Set it down as occasional seating

finished in black

The designs are elaborate and complex often showing rectangles and square patterns

Light sand brown colour

Mangbetu Bust Vase 231.1 Children Playing Set it down as occasionalA Mangbetu bust vase from the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo part vessel, part sculpture, in hand burnished terracotta with a deep, near obsidian patina. The Mangbetu developed this figurative style in the early 20th century to honour an idealised beauty. The elongated head reflects lipombo, the traditional shaping of the skull as a sign of majesty and status, crowned by the flared tumburu coiffure once worn by ruling class women.