AFRICAN TRIBAL TEKE BITEKE BUTTI POWER FIGURE DRC CONGO EX FIA MUSEUM EXHIBITED

Description

A
Fine Teke
Butti Power Figure – Democratic Republic of Congo
ca Early-Mid 20th Century
Wood, patina
Height 41.9cm (16.5in)
PROVENANCE:
Property from the Justice and Mrs. G. Mennen Williams Collection, Detroit, MI 1961-1966
Ex-Flint Institute of Art Museum Collection, Flint, MI, Accession No. 1973.57
EXHIBITED:
Flint, Michigan, Flint Cultural Center, Flint Institute of Arts, Wilson Galleries, Art of Africa (Museum Permanent Collection), 1973-2015
Flint, Michigan, Flint Cultural Center, Flint Institute of Arts, Symbols of Rites and Rituals: Art from West Africa & the Equatorial Forest, September 20, 1997-January 4, 1998
Flint, Michigan, The International Institute of Flint, Understanding Africa: Ceremonial Objects of Africa, February 17, 2005-February 18, 2005
*Documentation on file and can accompany the artwork for historical conservation purposes.
Description: Biteki male figure with angular legs, cylindrical torso with rectangular cavity, the head with linear scarification, triangular beard and almond shaped eyes, all surmounted by a crested headdress; medium to dark brown patina
.
Provenance:
The subject Teke figure was formerly in the Justice and Mrs. G. Mennen Williams Collection, Detroit, Michigan. The artifact was collected in situ between 1961-1966, while G. Mennen Williams was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. The Williams Collection, including this figure (Accession No. 1973.57), was generously donated to the Flint Institute of Arts in 1973
. Curatorial Remarks: Good condition
for being of considerable age. Surface wear commensurate with use.
The Teke live on the banks of the Congo River. They are best known for their fetishes, called buti, which serve in the cult of a wide range of supernatural forces sent by the ancestors, who are not worshiped directly. LaGamma (2007: 304) notes: "In Teke society the ikwii (ancestors), or shades of the death, warded off calamities perpetrated by witches. The father of a family invoked the ikwii of his father, mother, and sometimes his mother's brother on behalf of his own children and wives. A shrine to one's deceased family members featured reliquary figures of some of those individuals (buti) along with other items [...]. "Buti were named after and identified with the specific male ancestors whom they embodied.  Generally those individuals were renowned chiefs or leaders whose presence assured the community's well-being.  The sacred component of buti was composed of earth from the grave of the deceased, which was considered to contain traces of his corporeal being.  [...] As the responsibility of individual family leaders, buti were kept within their owners' home.  Those of a village leader afforded to benefits to the community at large. It appears that, on the death of its owner, a buti was often buried with him along with all his other belongings." The subject power figure attests to the artistic abilities of the Teke and was formerly in the collection of Justice and Mrs. G. Mennen Williams of Detroit, Michigan. After leaving office in 1961, G. Mennen Williams assumed the post of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the administration of President John F. Kennedy. His remark at a press conference that "what we want for the Africans is what they want for themselves," reported in the press as "Africa for the Africans," sparked controversy. Whites in South Africa and Rhodesia, and in the British and Portuguese colonies contended that Williams wanted them expelled from the continent. Williams defended his remarks, saying that he included white Africans as Africans. Williams was defended by Kennedy at a press conference, saying that "Africa for the Africans does not seem to me to be an unreasonable statement." Kennedy said that Williams made it clear he was referring to Africans of all colors, and "I don't know who else Africa should be for." He served in this post until early 1966, when he resigned to unsuccessfully challenge Republican United States Senator Robert P. Griffin. Two years later, he was named by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, where he served less than a year. In 1969 he wrote a book on the emergence of modern Africa, Africa for the Africans. Williams was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1970 and was named Chief Justice in 1983. Thus, like William Howard Taft in the federal government, he occupied the highest executive and judicial offices in Michigan government. During his tenure as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Williams and his wife Nancy would often receive indigenous artworks as gifts from important dignitaries. In addition, Mrs. Williams was known for her exotic safaris in which she would acquire rare objects for both their personal collection and the Mali embassy in Washington. In the 1968 exhibit catalog “African Art Collected by G. Mennen Williams”, Oakland University Chancellor D. B Varner further describes the significance of their collection when he notes “Fortunately for students of the arts, Governor Williams found time during his frequent trips to Africa to pursue his interest in the exciting forms of African sculpture. He not only developed an outstanding collection but has since been most generous in making it available to the art-loving public through loans and gifts to Michigan institutions (Galloway, 1968). The core of this rare collection was eventually donated to such local museums as the Detroit Institute of Arts, Oakland University, The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology and the Flint Institute of Arts
.
Cf.
Zemanek-Münster Catalog, African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Tribal Art from European Private Collections, Sale 65, Würzburg, Germany, May 28, 2011, Lot 427 (
EST 4,500 - 9,000 EUR
) and Sotheby’s Catalog, African and Oceanic Art, Sale PF8018, Paris, December 4, 2008, Lot 173 (
SOLD 10,000 EUR
) for comparable examples.
.
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