Carved Ivory
Decorated Ivory Napkin Rings
Vili peoples, Republic of the Congo
1890.1389, 1393, 1394, 1395

The napkin ring situated second from the right, which features the incised image of a butterfly, bears the date of 1888, when the group was apparently commissioned by Steckelmann. The drawing is in-filled by a black material recorded by Steckelmann as n’yanga, a kind of pitch used by the Vili to mend canoes and unfired pots.

 

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