Figural pendant "mikisi mihasi" ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3051043

Description

animal tooth (Hippopotamus amphibius), pigment, miniature glass beads,

A pair of ‘mikisi mihasi’ amulets by the same artist can be found in the collections of the Ethnographic Museum in Antwerp (MAS). It was collected before 1946 (AHDRC 0030136).

“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. Devotees anointed the figures with oil in homage to the ancestors” (according to Nooter Roberts & Roberts, 1996, p.108 f.)

Comparing literature

Roberts, Mary Nooter & Allan F. Roberts, Memory, Luba Art and the Making of History, New York 1996, p. 108 f.