Figural pendant "mikisi mihasi"
Description
animal tooth (Hippopotamus amphibius),
According to Allen Roberts and Mary Nooter Roberts Luba pendants are portraits, or at least likenesses, and are named and honored in memory of certain revered ancestors.
Sculpted from bone and horn as well as from ivory, these delicate diminutive figures were suspended from cords together with other objects, including amulets, beads, and horns. The cords were worn diagonally across the chest or were attached to the arm. The figures were also sometimes attached to the tops of scepters carried by chiefs.
Devotees anointed the figures with oil in homage to the ancestors. Such treatments, together with regular handling and contact with the human body, gave the figures a smooth, lustrous surface and a rich caramel color.