Standing female figure "kambei" ·  Sierra Leone, Mende · ID: 3036611

Description

wood, shiny black patina, neck rings, elaborate coiffure, carved with necklace, loincloth and shoes, scarification marks on face and back, slightly dam., minor missing part at the base, continuous vertical crack backside (partly spread with mass), abrasion of paint (nose), base;
for quite a long lime virtually all figures from the region have been called “minsereh” and have been associated with “yassi”. According to a newer research approach found by W. A. Hart they rather belong to a Mende society called “njayei”. This association keeps pairs of figures, male and female, known as “lomba” and “kambei” respectively. Such figures are said to represent both deceased members of the association and, in some sense, the associations ancestral spirits, possibly the original founders of the local chapter.

Comparing literature

W. A. Hart, Sculptures of the Njayei Society among the Mende, in: African Arts, 26 (Juli 1993), p. 46-53+86