Mintadi Figure

There is no doubt that this wooden statuette has been inspired by the famous mintadi. The Mintadi are small stone statues, usually steatite or soap stone, carved by the Mboma living on the left bank of the Zaire River, in Lower Congo and Angola. These are small characters, sitting, with an arm often resting on the knee and hand on the cheek in a thoughtful attitude. They were carved by the Kongo of the Congo to ensure mediation between the world of the living and the dead. The Mintadi are destined to protect the tombs of the faithful, the notables and the ancestors. Some of them may be commemorative figures of kings, chiefs or notables, as the drawings that sometimes bear inscriptions seem to show. It does not seem that their production extends beyond the beginning of the century XIX. It all suggests that the sculptor of this figure is familiar with the Mintadi or that it may come from the same area of Lower Congo. Ancient dark patina.