Standing female figure "hamba" · Angola, Chokwe · ID: 3042991
Fred Jahn, Munich, Germany (1999)
Description
wood, softly luminous blackish brown patina, necklace from indigo blue glass rings, slightly dam., abrasion of paint, cracks, base.
The village chief keeps “mahamba” that safeguard the community in an enclosure behind his residence. The “mahamba” spirits receive prayers and offerings to ensure their protection or to soothe them.
Often a carved figure, also called “hamba”, is created as a home for the spirit from which the patient has been freed.
The object Standing female figure “hamba” with the object ID 3042991 was last part of the auction 87th Tribal Art Auction at November 11, 2017 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 487 achieved a sales price of EUR 400.
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Comparing literature
Petridis, Constantine, Art and Power in the Central African Savanna, Brussels 2008, p. 96 ff.