Creative Mediations: The Figurative Ceramics of Voania (from) Muba

Boldly emblazoning his signature VOANIA MUBA across the sides of his works, the potter Voania,¹ from the small town of Muba in the west of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, clearly claims his ceramics. The style of his pots, with their naturalistic figures perched upon almost spherical chambers, is immediately recognizable. The figures' faces are impressively uniform in style, with a plump, round shape and almond-shaped eyes empty of any delineation of an iris or pupil. Almost all of Voania's works fit into five iconographic themes: equestrians, seated figures, standing figures, couples, and heads—each categorized by the type of figure situated atop the spherical base. More than 100 of his ceramics, dating from the late nineteenth century until his death in 1928, can be found in museums and private collections across Europe and the United States. Such a corpus of signed historical works by a single artist is rare in the study of African art, and to date, Voania's body of works has yet to be fully described or analyzed. I seek to document Voania's ceramics, search for trends that elucidate his oeuvre, and illuminate the artist's creative mediations between multiple stylistic influences.

Voania's prominent signature sets his works apart from the corpus of figurative ceramics made in western Congo at the turn of the twentieth century. Variations in his signatures separate his works into three style groups (Figs. 1–3), suggesting a rough time-line for their creation that illuminates Voania's innovations, which he may have used to appeal to foreign clients. The slim but suggestive archival evidence highlights Voania's innovations and elucidates the impact of his interactions with Dr. Élie-Joseph Étienne, a Belgian official working in Congo. In 1910, Dr. Étienne sent three shipments of ethnographic objects to the Musée du Congo Belge in Tervuren, including a total of ten works by Voania, although only nine were registered.² He also promoted Voania's work to European and American collectors. While I will use a close reading of the objects to speculate on Voania's innovations and his engagement with European patrons, my analysis reveals how Voania's works are also connected to regional Congolese visual systems. By considering the artist's innovations and his interaction with Étienne, these ceramic vessels illustrate the artist's mediation of his own experience and European influence.

ART OF DISTINCTION: SITUATING PAST SCHOLARSHIP

Voania's productivity is apparent in the sheer number of objects now in museum collections. The earliest accessioned objects include Etienne's nine objects, sent to the Musée du Congo Belge in 1910, and purchase of a work at auction in October 1913 by the Henry Wellcome Collection in London.³ In 1915, the American Museum of Natural History accessioned six sculptures collected by Herbert Lang during the museum's Congo Mission. The Swedish Ethnographic Museum purchased a piece in 1916.⁴ Henri Pareyn donated seven objects to the Musée du Congo Belge in 1917. The Vleeshuis Museum, now known as the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) in Antwerp, purchased five more ceramics in 1920. Collections have steadily continued to accession Voania's works.

Early archival records and analyses focus largely on the artist's distinct style, masterful techniques, and creation of works for European clients. For instance, a 1917 Musée du Congo Belge accession report describes one of Voania's ceramics as of "modern manufacture bearing the engraved mark of the native potter, piece is very interesting because of the art of the craftsman."⁵ These notes laud Voania's skillful artistry and, as I will discuss later, complement European attitudes regarding other figurative ceramics from western Congo produced in the early twentieth century. For example, in a 1939 article published by the Comité Provinciale des Amis de l'Art Indigène, the authors regret that the distinguished artist had died before the Comité's projects in Congo began.⁶ In an attempt to revive the creation of figurative ceramics, the Comité

1

Voania from Muba

1a.

Standing...