Amulet "mikisi mihasi" · D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3048378
sold
EUR 650
Provenance
Private Collection, The Hague, The NetherlandsSize
H: 8,5 cm
H: 3.3 inch
Description
animal tooth (warthog), base
These predominantly female pendants, mostly carved out of the curvature of a tooth, are supposed to commemorate certain, particularly revered ancestors. In their honour, the figurines are regularly rubbed with oil.
Most of them are pierced so that they could be worn on the body. Sometimes they are also said to have been attached to the scepters of chiefs.
Comparing literature
Roberts, Mary Nooter, Memory, Luba Art and the Making of History, New York 1996, p. 108 f.