Sitting female bowl bearing figure "mboko"
D. R. Congo, Luba-Shankadi
not available anymore
Provenance
Marc Leo Felix, Brussels, Belgium (1994)Size
H: 17,8 cm
H: 7.0 inch
Description
wood, inventory number “FX 94241”, base
Luba bowl figures commemorate the first mythical Luba diviner, “Mijbu wa Kalenga”, and were primarily the preserve of royal diviners “bilumbu”, who used them as oracles.
The female figure can track down malevolent forces and act as a spy in the service of the diviner. Such figures are also reputed to have curative capacities.