Bell "dibu" ·  D. R. Congo, Bakongo · ID: 3044276

Description

wood, plant fibre, base

Simple wooden bells are attached to the necks of hunting dogs. The large, usually decorated “dibu” specimens are a symbol of the healer “nganga”.

The hunter follows the sound of the dog’s bell into the forest to catch the animals. Similarly the “nganga” uses a bell when he symbolically enters the spiritual world called “the forest of the ancestors” to seek the spirit or ancestor that is causing his client’s problems.

The object Bell “dibu” with the object ID 3044276 was last part of the auction 89th Tribal Art Auction at July 7, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 349.

Here you will find more objects and interesting facts about African art.

Comparing literature

Fagg, William, African Tribal Images, Cleveland 1968, ill. 226 Gansemans, Jos, Musical Instruments, Tervuren 2009, p. 144