Details

Title

Janus Figure

Artist/Maker

Songye Artist, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Date

Late nineteenth–early twentieth century

Medium

Ivory

Dimensions

Contact the museum for more information

Credit

Fred and Rita Richman Collection

Accession #

2002.298

Location

Currently not on view

This ivory sculpture, now fragmentary—with two figures facing in opposite directions—likely once served as the central support of a neck rest, similar in form to the wood neck rest carved by the Master of Beneki, also in the High Museum’s collection and pictured on this website (2002.309). While neck rests made of wood are relatively common throughout Africa, those made of ivory are extremely rare and associated with great prestige.

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