(Image courtesy of The British Museum)
A rare female Songye figure collected by Emil Torday in Lusambo in 1908, currently in the collection of The British Museum (#1908.Ty157). One of my favourite statues of the Songye; it’s head is truly amazing. Note that this specific shape of the lips is always a good indicator that you have an old example at hand.
You can browse the online collections of the British Museum here. Since many object records don’t yet feature a photo, don’t forget to tick the ‘images only’ box. A search on “Torday” gives a nice example of the scope of their holdings.
Portrait of Emil Torday holding a dead bird. Original Description: “Mokunji [sp.?] bird tabued by Batetela & Basonge.” (image courtesy of The British Museum)