Janiform magical figure "kabeja" · D. R. Congo, Luba-Hemba · ID: 3049429
sold
EUR 1,100
Provenance
Galerie Lemaire, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsLudwig Bretschneider, Munich, Germany
German Private Collection (1987)
Size
H: 27 cm
H: 10.6 inch
Description
wood, pigments, insect caused damage, base
Janus figures “kabeja” always represent a male and a female figure, joined back-to-back, and sharing a single cavity on top of their heads for insertion of magical mass.
They are seen as visual icon of the primordial couple, the founders of the society (“abeja” = woman, “makua” = man).
The “kabeja” is the fundamental object of the Hemba cult, including the cult of ancestors. Whether administering justice or making an offering to the ancestors these Janus “kabeja” were always present.
They are owned by the clan head known as the “fumu mwela”.
Comparing literature
Neyt, Francois, La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaire, Louvain-la-Neuve 1977, p. 486, ill. 82
Publications
AHDRC: 0029451