Diviner's basket with a small mask "kifwebe" · D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3039851
sold
EUR 500
Provenance
Peter Loebarth, Hameln, Germany (1996)Hans Dietrich Rielau, Hösbach, Germany
Size
H: 19 cm
H: 7.5 inch
Description
wickerwork, wood, plant fibre, flat round basket with a whitened maskette attached in the centre, eyezone and mouth accentuated with red pigment, plant fibre beard, concentrical grooves on the forehead, slightly dam. (rim on top), spot from moisture, base;
such fetish baskets belonged to a diviner “nganga”, who used them in rituals to counteract supernatural attacks by “ndoshi” (= a witch specializing in harmful supernatural interventions, akin to black magic in the Western world).
Comparing literature
Woods, Davy, Kifwebe Maskettes of the Luba and Songye, In: Tribal Art Magazine (48), Spring 2008, p.112, ill. 22