CONGO (DRC), Lower Congo region Pair of Kongo Yombe? Sundi? statues, hardwood with a honey-coloured patina, red and white pigments, with black highlights. A male and female pair carved by the same artist: finely striated cap-shaped headdresses, in concentric circles for the man and radiating patterns for the woman; scarifications on the temples and at the corners of the eyes highlighted with pigments; teeth filed to a point, characteristic of the Kongo region; engraved neck rings highlighted in red; blackened loincloth-belts; hands with individual fingers resting along the thighs. First third of the 20th century. A statue from Western Congo (Lower Congo in the broad sense), the filed teeth and the striated cap-shaped headdress evoking the Yombe and Sundi styles. Former metal suspension system on the back. 56 cm (1,777 g) and 50 cm (1,540 g). Damage to the feet, old insect holes. Provenance: John van Kessel collection (Antwerp, 1885), Secretary to the Minister for the Colonies (1920–1924), then passed down through the family.