Kneeling female ancestor figure ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3053731

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, richly spread with palm oil, an unusual posture: the hands resting on the shoulders with the wrists bent, base

For a Luba staff, whose finial figure shows a similar hand position, see ADHRC 0031314.

The female figure occupies a prominent position in Luba art and political ideology. Women held important roles as advisers, envoys and spiritual mediums, and played a vital part in the exercise and transmission of political and spiritual power. Depictions of women therefore embody not only notions of beauty and fertility, but also authority, memory and the continuity of the royal and social order.

Characteristic are the carefully executed scarification patterns, whose complex variations expressed aspects of identity, status and personal memory. The kneeling posture underscores the figure’s role as a bearer of spiritual and social values. Particularly remarkable is the unusual position of the arms, with the hands resting on the shoulders. The assured modelling, balanced proportions and precise execution of the details point to the hand of an experienced master carver and lend the figure an exceptional sculptural presence and expressive power.

Comparing literature

Neyt, François, Luba, Aan de Bronnen van de Zaire, Paris 1994, p. 142