Janiform power figure "kabeja" · D. R. Congo, Hemba · ID: 3050435
sold
EUR 1,400
Provenance
Ludwig Bretschneider, Munich, GermanyMunich Private Collection
Size
H: 25 cm
H: 9.8 inch
Description
wood, pigments, bone, wire, base
“Kabeja” figures are seen as visual icon of the primordial couple, the founders of the society (“abeja” = woman, “makua” = man).
In his standard work “La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaire”, François Neyt notes: “Whether administering justice (“kihona”), making an offering to the ancestor (“lusingiti”) …, these janus “kabeja” were always present” (Neyt, 1977, p. 483).
Comparing literature
Neyt, François, La Grande Statuaire Hemba du Zaire, Louvain-la-Neuve 1977, p. 483