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Lot Essay
A NOTE ABOUT A MONUMENTAL OLD FANG NGUMBA OF SOUTHERN CAMEROON
By Louis Perrois
This eyema byeri ancestor figure, 70 cm high, in the style of the Fang Ngumba of Southern Cameroon, has had an astonishing journey. Indeed, a picture of it was found in the late nineteenth century, published in the “Henry Kerr Cameroon expedition papers” in 1899 (1899. Kerr, M. Henry, “Lolodorf, After a Year’s Absence.” Woman’s Work for Woman, Vol. 14, No. 6), and recorded in the Ross Archives (Ross Archives of African Images, Yale University).
According to the documentation of The Presbyterian Historical Society, “M. Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian missionary, worked in small, formerly German-controlled villages in Cameroon, Africa from 1892-1899, particularly Batanga, Elat and Efulen. Kerr took a strong interest in the native language, Bulu, and worked with minister Adolphus C. Good (1856-1894) to translate the four Gospels, as well as several hymns. In 1898, Kerr briefly returned home to marry Margaret McClean Logan ; the couple returned to Cameroon that year and worked together as missionaries. However, in 1899, Margaret Kerr became ill and the couple returned to the United States. They resided in Flourtown, Pennsylvania and did not return to the mission field.”
The photograph in the Kerr publication shows two “idols” and a young man from the Lolodorf region, the heart of the Fang Ngumba country, in the Lukundje valley in Southern Cameroon. It is the very same region in which the botanist Georg Zenker, a great source of statues and other Pangwe artefacts to German museums (mainly that of Berlin), was also working at that time.
The left, large-sized object is the on offer today, and can be seen in the matching shapes and the details of the sculpture - hair dress, face and eyes, rectangular mouth and monoxyl beard, position of arms, hands, prominent cylinder navel, volume of thighs and calves, marks on chest, etc.
The note written by Pastor Henry Kerr states the following: « ...the Ngumba always have a set of idols, made of wood, to care for the luck, ills and lives of the people—some in the form of a man, to look after the lords of creation; other idols in the form of a woman, to care for the gentle (?) sex. They believe the spirits of their ancestors can be made by the witch doctor to live in these images, and to take part in events of the day. They fix them up in a fashion to correspond to the wealth of the owner, and as each man thinks he is caring for his great-grandfather, he takes great pains to have the old man comfortable. If he thinks the spirit of his ancestor would like to have brass or other ornament around his eyes or mouth, he puts it on. You may see from the picture how handsome these idols are. The boy taken in the same photograph belongs to a branch of the Ngumba tribe. He has long ago given up this kind of god; he stood beside the images so you could see the kind of people who use them.” (p. 159).
By the 1930s, this piece found its way into the collection of Dr. Gaston Durville, a great amateur of Fang sculptures, and from the notes in his files it also once belonged to Madeleine Rousseau. Both were in contact with all the great dealers of that time, Paul Guillaume, Louis Carré, Charles Ratton, Pierre Vérité, etc. and a little later with Guy Montbarbon and Henry Kamer. Madeleine Rousseau was often in partnership, in particular, with Charles Ratton. It is most likely through this connection – eg Charles Ratton – that it came to Pierre Matisse. They were great collaborators, as witnessed in the landmark exhibition held at Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, African Sculptures from The Ratton Collection (March 30 – April 20, 1935).
The present Durville-Rousseau-Matisse Fang figure, is very rare because of its antiquity datable to at least the middle of the 19th century, and its direct relationship to the territory of the Fang Ngumba people, is very characteristic of the both classical and expressionist style which the Pangwe of South Cameroon had developed for a long time, during their migration from east to west.
By Louis Perrois
This eyema byeri ancestor figure, 70 cm high, in the style of the Fang Ngumba of Southern Cameroon, has had an astonishing journey. Indeed, a picture of it was found in the late nineteenth century, published in the “Henry Kerr Cameroon expedition papers” in 1899 (1899. Kerr, M. Henry, “Lolodorf, After a Year’s Absence.” Woman’s Work for Woman, Vol. 14, No. 6), and recorded in the Ross Archives (Ross Archives of African Images, Yale University).
According to the documentation of The Presbyterian Historical Society, “M. Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian missionary, worked in small, formerly German-controlled villages in Cameroon, Africa from 1892-1899, particularly Batanga, Elat and Efulen. Kerr took a strong interest in the native language, Bulu, and worked with minister Adolphus C. Good (1856-1894) to translate the four Gospels, as well as several hymns. In 1898, Kerr briefly returned home to marry Margaret McClean Logan ; the couple returned to Cameroon that year and worked together as missionaries. However, in 1899, Margaret Kerr became ill and the couple returned to the United States. They resided in Flourtown, Pennsylvania and did not return to the mission field.”
The photograph in the Kerr publication shows two “idols” and a young man from the Lolodorf region, the heart of the Fang Ngumba country, in the Lukundje valley in Southern Cameroon. It is the very same region in which the botanist Georg Zenker, a great source of statues and other Pangwe artefacts to German museums (mainly that of Berlin), was also working at that time.
The left, large-sized object is the on offer today, and can be seen in the matching shapes and the details of the sculpture - hair dress, face and eyes, rectangular mouth and monoxyl beard, position of arms, hands, prominent cylinder navel, volume of thighs and calves, marks on chest, etc.
The note written by Pastor Henry Kerr states the following: « ...the Ngumba always have a set of idols, made of wood, to care for the luck, ills and lives of the people—some in the form of a man, to look after the lords of creation; other idols in the form of a woman, to care for the gentle (?) sex. They believe the spirits of their ancestors can be made by the witch doctor to live in these images, and to take part in events of the day. They fix them up in a fashion to correspond to the wealth of the owner, and as each man thinks he is caring for his great-grandfather, he takes great pains to have the old man comfortable. If he thinks the spirit of his ancestor would like to have brass or other ornament around his eyes or mouth, he puts it on. You may see from the picture how handsome these idols are. The boy taken in the same photograph belongs to a branch of the Ngumba tribe. He has long ago given up this kind of god; he stood beside the images so you could see the kind of people who use them.” (p. 159).
By the 1930s, this piece found its way into the collection of Dr. Gaston Durville, a great amateur of Fang sculptures, and from the notes in his files it also once belonged to Madeleine Rousseau. Both were in contact with all the great dealers of that time, Paul Guillaume, Louis Carré, Charles Ratton, Pierre Vérité, etc. and a little later with Guy Montbarbon and Henry Kamer. Madeleine Rousseau was often in partnership, in particular, with Charles Ratton. It is most likely through this connection – eg Charles Ratton – that it came to Pierre Matisse. They were great collaborators, as witnessed in the landmark exhibition held at Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, African Sculptures from The Ratton Collection (March 30 – April 20, 1935).
The present Durville-Rousseau-Matisse Fang figure, is very rare because of its antiquity datable to at least the middle of the 19th century, and its direct relationship to the territory of the Fang Ngumba people, is very characteristic of the both classical and expressionist style which the Pangwe of South Cameroon had developed for a long time, during their migration from east to west.