Staff of office "kibango", end of 19th century ·  D. R. Congo, Luba · ID: 3043710

Description

wood, brown patina, pigment remains, nails, round staff, presumably once wrapped with metal strips, slightly dam., traces of old age, possibly rep. (?), base.
Staffs of office “kibango” were both prestige items and receptacles for sacral power. Sanctified by ritual specialists, fortified with metal and medicine, they took on supernatural qualities and were said to have healing power. The depiction of duiker horns on the lower portion of this staff may refer to the staffs curative capacities, since Luba doctors used small antelope horns to hold medicine. The janus heads at the top of the staff depict the twin tutelary spirits “mpanga” and “banze”. The broad diamond-shaped section is a representation of “dibulu” which represent the administrative centers that are part of every royal captial.
The staff of office “kibango” function as a mnemonic text, its forms and designs constituting sculpted narratives. Each “kibango” represents the history of a particular chief or titleholder, and the migration of his ancestors, his genealogy, and the location of tutelary spirits and natural resources.

The object Staff of office “kibango”, end of 19th century with the object ID 3043710 was last part of the auction 88th Tribal Art Auction at March 10, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 430 achieved a sales price of EUR 4,900.

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AHDRC: 0150629