Zemanek-Münster

Figural amulet "kitekki" or "konda konda"

D. R. Congo, Hungana
sold EUR 2,000
Provenance
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, Belgium
Size
H: 8 cm
H: 3.1 inch

Description

bone, base

These amulets, made of ivory or bone, usually depict stylised female figures in a kneeling pose.

They are referred to differently in the literature. Leo Frobenius, who travelled the Kwango-Kwilu region in 1905, called the amulets “kitekki”, which means “carved object”. The Belgian anthropologist Albert Maesen, who carried out expeditions in this area in the 1950s, referred to them in his notebook as “konda konda”.


Comparing literature

Felix, Marc L. (ed.), White gold, black hands, Vol. 3, Brussels 2012, p. 128 ff.

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