Standing female figure "mvunzi" ·  D. R. Congo, Holo · ID: 3035995

Description

wood, dark brown patina, characteristic: overlong arms with the hands up to the chin, bean-shaped eyes and the projecting mouth, arms with drilled holes, openings in the ears (on one side filled), slightly dam. (ears), crack (backside), base;
presumably a magical figure “mvunzi”, who protects humans against certain evil spirits. The main fortuneteller usually possesses such “mvunzi”, who employs them in cases of sickness, for theft or for the hunt. In many cases, for example with theft, a “mvunzi” possesses not only a protective function, but also an offensive character by acting against the evil spirit and imposing on it an even greater evil.

Comparing literature

Neyt, Francois, Die Kunst der Holo, München 1982, p. 17 ff