Figure "okifa" · D. R. Congo, Mbole · ID: 3043281
Lempertz, Cologne, 26 April 2003, lot 166
German Private Collection, Munich
Description
wood, dark brown patina, remains of pigments, hips, neck and headgear pierced, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion, base.
Death by hanging plays an important role in Mbole society. This penalty is applied to adulterers, evil sorcerers and members of the “lilwa” society who have betrayed the society’s secrets. These “okifa” (= “hanged”) called figures cannot be regarded as individual portraits. However, the motif of hanging is clearly shown. They were presented to the people who were going to be initiated in order to caution them and thus served as an emphatic warning against offences and betrayal of secrets.
The object Figure “okifa” with the object ID 3043281 was last part of the auction 88th Tribal Art Auction at March 10, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 444.
You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Publications
AHDRC: 0122286